The Midrash HaGadol brings a different explanation, saying that when Eisav approached, Yosef pushed his mother and stood before her. He said, perhaps she’ll be frightened and miscarry, as she was pregnant with Binyamin. Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to Yosef: “You pushed your mother because of Eisav, by your life, the descendants of Eisav will fall only by your hand,” as it says וְהָיָה בֵית יַעֲקֹב אֵשׁ – And the house of Yaakov shall be fire (Ovadiah 1:18).
The Gemara (Megillah 26a) asks: What was in the portion of the tribe of Yehuda? Har HaBayit at its entrance from the east side, the chambers within the rampart, and the courtyards. And what was in the portion of Binyamin? The Hall (אוּלָם), the Sanctuary (הֵ יכַ ל), and the Kodesh HaKodashim. And a strip extended from the portion of Yehuda and entered into the portion of Binyamin, and on it the Mizbe’ach (altar) was built. And Binyamin would agonize over it every day, therefore, Binyamin merited and became the host of the Shechinah.
And why did Binyamin merit that the Beit Hamikdash would be specifically in his portion? The Midrash Talpiot writes that it was because Binyamin did not bow to Eisav who was an idolater; he had not yet been born when Yaakov and his sons bowed seven times. For this reason, the first king, Shaul, was from the tribe of Binyamin. A small portion was in Yehuda's territory because although Yehuda bowed to Eisav, he burned the wagons that Pharaoh sent (to Yaacov) because idolatry was engraved on them, as Chazal say, and that tribe learned to uproot idolatry.
In Megillat Esther, Mordechai is the only one who refuses to bow to Haman. Chazal say (Esther Rabbah, 7:8) Mordechai replied to those who challenged him, “Why do you transgress the king’s command?” Mordechai told them, “Moshe Rabbeinu warned us in the Torah, ‘Cursed is the man who makes a graven or molten image,’ and this wicked man makes himself into idolatry. Moreover, I am a standard-bearer of Hakadosh Baruch Hu; all the tribes were born outside the Land, but my ancestor was born in Eretz Yisrael.” They immediately went and informed Haman, who said to them, “Did his ancestor not bow to my ancestor?” Mordechai answered: “Binyamin had not yet been born.”
This implies that the reason the Batei Mikdash were situated in Binyamin's portion was because he did not bow to Eisav. With this, we can learn something truly wonderful that the sefer HaShir VeHashevach brings forth. It is possible to suggest an additional reason, based on the statement of Chazal that the Beit Hamikdash was built in Binyamin's portion because he did not bow to Eisav. We can say that the reason Yosef hid Rachel was because he saw through Ruach HaKodesh that the Beit Hamikdash would be built only in Binyamin's inheritance because he alone didn’t bow to Eisav, and according to the Midrash, at that time Rachel was pregnant with Binyamin. Had Rachel knelt and bowed, Binyamin in her womb would have bowed with her. To prevent this bowing, Yosef pushed his mother aside and stood before Eisav, and through his action caused the Mikdash to be built in the portion of her son Binyamin.
We can also explain an aspect of Binyamin's birth in this way: וַיְהִי בְהַקְשֹׁתָהּ בְּלִדְתָּהּ וַתֹּאמֶר לָהּ הַמְיַלֶּדֶת אַל תִּרְאִי כִּי גַם זֶה לָך – And it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her: Fear not, for this also is a son for you. What did Rachel fear, and how did the midwife's announcement of a son calm this fear? Indeed, the Seforno says that Rachel was told to not fear the child will be female, because the labor pains were many, and the Gemara says (Niddah 31a) the labor pains of a female child are greater than those of a male. According to this, Rachel feared that perhaps the child was female, and regarding this the midwife comforted her that this was a son.
This still requires explanation why Rachel feared giving birth to a daughter, but according to the simple explanation, we can say that Rachel desired two of the twelve tribes, so that her portion would not be less than the maidservants. And based on what was brought above – namely, that Yosef hid Rachel to enable the Beit Hamikdash in her son’s portion – we can say that this is also the foundation of Rachel's fear of giving birth to a daughter, since if a daughter had been born, the Beit Hamikdash would not be built in the portion of one of her sons.
According to this reason, this is the explanation of the verse: וַיְהִי בְהַקְשֹׁתָהּ בְּלִדְתָּהּ – when she saw her labor pains were difficult, she feared it was a daughter, and since her moments were numbered and she was about to die, Rachel feared that she might not merit that the Beit Hamikdash would be built in her son's inheritance. And therefore, the midwife said to her, “You have no reason to fear, since this son completes the twelve tribes, and in his inheritance the Beit Hamikdash will be built.”
Thus, we have learned that Yosef HaTzaddik hid his mother Rachel from Eisav, because if she had bowed to him, we would not have a Beit Hamikdash!
If this is the case, we can enter into a wonderful idea that originates in the words of the Chatam Sofer: After Yaakov separated from Eisav, the Torah states:
וְיַעֲקֹב נָסַע סֻכֹּתָה וַיִּבֶן לוֹ בָּיִת וּלְמִקְנֵהוּ עָשָׂה סֻכֹּת עַל כֵּן קָרָא שֵׁם הַמָּקוֹם סֻכּוֹת:
And Yaakov journeyed to Sukkot, and built himself a house, and made booths for his cattle; therefore the name of the place is called Sukkot.
Why does the Torah point out to us that he built a house? Did we think that Yaakov Avinu would sleep in the city park?! The Targum Yonatan ben Uziel writes:
וְיַעֲקב נָטַל לְסוּכּוֹת וְאִיתְעַכֵּב תַּמָן תְּרֵיסַר יַרְחֵי שַׁתָּא וּבְנָא לֵיהּ בֵּי מֶדְרָשָׁא וּלְגֵיתוֹי עָבַד מַטְלָן בְּגִין כֵּן קָרָא שְׁמָא דְאַתְרָא סוּכּוֹת.
And Yaakov traveled to Sukkot and stayed there twelve months of the year, and built for himself a house of study, and for his flocks he made shelters; therefore he called the name of the place Sukkot.
