דברי הימים א, פרק י״ז, פסוק ה׳

For generations following the exodus from Egypt, the Divine Presence accompanied the Israelites without a permanent home. This ongoing state of wandering was not an accident or an oversight. Rather, the lack of a fixed sanctuary was deeply intentional, designed to reserve the great privilege of building a lasting house for a specifically chosen individual. For this reason, God never commanded any of the earlier judges to construct a permanent structure [מצודת דוד].

Since the day He brought the Israelites out of Egypt, God never dwelled in a permanent building [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Instead, His resting place was characterized by constant movement. The Ark and the Altar journeyed continuously from the original Tent of Meeting in the desert to Gilgal, then to Shiloh, Nov, and Gibeon. The primary approach among commentators is that throughout all these stations, the Divine Presence rested beneath temporary curtains. Even during the period when the Ark was kept in Kiryat Ye'arim, the Altar remained in Nov and Gibeon without any permanent housing [רש״י, רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

The specific nature of these temporary stops highlights a historical shift between different types of structures. The sanctuary that stood in Shiloh was uniquely a hybrid building. Its lower half was constructed from solid stone, functioning as a tabernacle, yet it lacked a solid roof. Instead, it was covered by the very same fabric curtains used on the original desert tent. Therefore, the historical journey involved transitioning from the absolute tent of the wilderness to the unique structure in Shiloh, where God essentially dwelled in both a tent and a tabernacle simultaneously [מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Following the destruction of Shiloh, the sanctuary lost its stone walls entirely, and the resting place for the Ark and the Altar reverted to a state of complete temporariness [ביאור שטיינזלץ].