These are the numbers of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of the Testimony, which were counted at Moshe’s command...(38:21)
The Destroyed Bais Hamikdosh Will Return:
Rashi states: “The Mishkan, the Mishkan: (The word Mishkan is written twice.) This alludes to the Mikdash, which was taken as security (mashkon) by the two destructions, for Yisroel’s sins... The Mishkan of the Testimony. The Mishkan was testimony for Yisroel that Hashem forgave them for the incident of the eigel, for He caused His Shechinah to rest among them.”
The Dubno Magid zt”l asks that these two statements seem to contradict each other, with one having a negative connotation and one have a positive connotation. On the one hand, the word Mishkan is written twice to hint to the fact that our sins caused the destruction of the Bais Hamikdosh. On the other hand, the words “Mishkan Ha’eidus” hint that Hashem forgave us our sin.
He answers with a moshol of a wealthy man whose son was a refined young scholar. When it came time to find a shidduch for the boy, a suggestion was made with the daughter of another wealthy merchant.
The father and son went to meet with the father of the girl, and saw that he lived in a beautiful mansion that was adorned with much finery. They were served fine food with fancy plates and cutlery. They were very satisfied that the mechutin met their standards and the match was finalized.
A few weeks later, the groom’s father returned to finalize the wedding plans. As soon as he entered the home, he did a double take. All the fancy paintings and furnishings he had seen during his first visit were no longer there. Even the food he was served was very simple. When he saw this, his face dropped and he became very upset.
The bride’s father asked him why he looked so sad and he said, “I’ll tell you the truth. Now that I see that you no longer have all the fancy things I saw before, I realize that you must have only borrowed those things and you aren’t really as wealthy as you made us believe. I see that you tricked me!”
The bride’s father replied, “That isn’t true. What happened is that I just came across a very good business opportunity but I didn’t have cash on hand to invest as much as I needed. Therefore, I gave all my valuable items as a security to obtain a large loan. But once this deal is successful, I will have much more wealth than ever before.”
This answer calmed the angered father of the groom.
This is what the Torah is teaching us. Even though we lost the Bais Hamikdash as a result of our sins, we only gave it away as a mashkon. Very soon, the mashkon will be returned to us, with the rebuilding of Bais Hamikdosh in all its glory.
