Two Temples: Hebrews 9:1-7, especially vss. 8, 9: "...the first tabernacle...was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect...."
In preparing for today's Feast, the Church sings: "Today the whole world is filled with gladness on the brilliant Feast of the Theotokos, raising its voice and saying, This is she who is the heavenly tabernacle." In the two verses quoted above from Hebrews, the Apostle speaks of "the first tabernacle," the one constructed at God's command and assembled by Moses in the wilderness: "And thou shalt make Me a sanctuary, and I will appear among you. And thou shalt make for Me according to...the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all its furniture: so shalt thou make it" (Ex. 25:8,9 LXX). By giving birth to God, the Theotokos reveals the wilderness tabernacle to be the type of the eternal, heavenly tabernacle.
"Tabernacle" literally means tent. In Hebrews, the Apostle describes the three areas of the wilderness tent, an outer enclosure before the tabernacle proper, an area open to the elements, where God's People could congregate. Behind a curtain, protecting the entrance, was the first space within the tent, the one reserved for the Priests and Levites, "in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary" or Holy Place (Heb. 9:2). At the far end, divided by a partitioning curtain, lay the most interior area, called the Holy of Holies (vs. 3).
This wilderness arrangement has influenced the floor plan typical of Orthodox churches, which divide into a Narthex leading to a Nave In the early Christian times, this outer area was separated from the Nave by a door. It provided a place for catechumens when they left the Assembly as the cry was given: "The doors, the doors." The Nave, where the People of God assemble for worship and the Most Holy Place, where the priests officiate around the altar or Throne, behind the iconostasis, correspond to the two inner areas of the ancient tabernacle.
The ancient Holy of Holies contained "...the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant" (vs. 4) This most sacred space and its furnishings is appreciated adequately only on the basis of a theology of presence, the language of which enriches our appreciation of the Theotokos as the ultimate tabernacle. Through her, He Who IS, comes, presents, and reveals Himself to the Faithful. He Who cannot be contained is pleased to dwell among men. Hence, the Virgin is called "Platytera," she whose womb is "more spacious than the heavens," containing the uncontainable God, the holy tabernacle where God joins man.
In the ancient Mosaic rites, smoke from the golden censer was offered by the High Priest, covered the mercy seat above the tables of testimony, and kept the Priest from death as he stood in the presence of God (Lev. 16:13). Likewise, in humanity from the Virgin, Jesus the Great High Priest offered His life to prevent our eternal death and to gain eternal life for us before God.
The Theotokos herself is called "the Ark." Anciently an Ark, or casket, held the golden pot of perishable manna, but she holds that food which "My Father giveth you...from heaven...the bread of God which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world" (Jn. 6:32,33).
Aaron's rod was made of wood from the almond tree, in Hebrew, "the Waker," being first to blossom after winter. Similarly, from Mary comes Jesus, the first blossom of the new Life.
The tablets of the covenant, also in the Ark, were received by Moses and contained what in Hebrew are called the "The Ten Words"- God's covenant with His People. Mary herself, as the Ark, holds Him Who is the New Covenant, the Living Word of God.
Let us extol Mary, whom the Prophets foretold, a jar, a rod, a tablet, the holy ark.