The Double Mishkan: A Promise of Redemption

This week’s parsha begins with a curious phrase:
“Eileh Pekudei HaMishkan, Mishkan HaEidut…”
Why the double language—Mishkan, Mishkan?

Rashi, quoting the Midrash, explains that the repetition hints at something deeper.
The word Mishkan can also be read as Mashkon—a collateral.

This teaches us that the two Batei Mikdash in Yerushalayim were taken from us not just as punishment, but as a pledge. Hashem is holding them as collateral until we’re ready to receive them back.

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A Story of Collateral

To understand this, imagine a man who falls on hard times. With a heavy heart, he pawns the most precious item he owns—a beautiful heirloom watch passed down through generations. It pains him to let it go, but he knows it’s safe.

Each day, he walks past the shop window and sees it there. It’s still his—but not quite.
When he finally gathers enough money to redeem it, he rushes in.

To his surprise, the shopkeeper not only returns it—but returns it better than before. Cleaned, polished, repaired. The watch didn’t just come back—it came back restored.

This is the story of the Beit HaMikdash.

We lost it—but only temporarily. Hashem is holding it, waiting for us to return—so He can give it back, greater than ever.

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The Glory That Was—and Will Be

At the end of the parsha, we read:
“And the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of Hashem filled the Mishkan.”

The Sforno explains that the Shechina—the Divine Presence—in the Mishkan was more intense than what was later found in Shiloh or even in the First and Second Batei Mikdash.

And then he quotes a prophecy from Chaggai (2:9):
“גדול יהיה כבוד הבית הזה האחרון מן הראשון”
“The glory of this latter house will be greater than the first.”

The Sforno says this isn’t poetic—it’s literal.

The Third Beit HaMikdash, the one we’re waiting for, will be filled with a deeper, greater Divine Presence than ever before.

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The Temple of Tomorrow

This is the story of the Beit HaMikdash.
We didn’t lose it forever—Hashem is lovingly holding it for us.

He’s not just waiting to return it—He’s preparing something even greater.
A home not only of stone and gold, but of light, peace, and eternal connection.

Every mitzvah, every act of kindness, every tefillah—brings us one step closer.
And when we daven each day to bring the Shechina back to Tzion,
Hashem is not only going to bring the Shechina back…
It will be greater than ever.