Eden, the first temple

Here's an experiment you can run with two open Bibles. Read Genesis 2 with Exodus open beside it, at the tabernacle chapters. The same words keep showing up on both pages. Better yet, we've opened both for you, facing pages, shared words highlighted.

• Adam's job is to "dress and keep" the garden (Genesis 2:15).THE SAME TWO WORDS ARE THE PRIESTS' JOB AT GOD'S TENT — NUMBERS 3:7–8
• God "walks" in the garden (Genesis 3:8).THE SAME RARE WORD DESCRIBES GOD LIVING IN THE TABERNACLE — "I WILL WALK AMONG YOU," LEVITICUS 26:12
• Cherubim guard the way back into Eden (Genesis 3:24).GOLDEN CHERUBIM GUARD THE ARK, AND THEY'RE STITCHED INTO THE TEMPLE VEIL — EXODUS 25–26
• Eden is entered from the east (Genesis 3:24).SO IS THE TABERNACLE, AND SO IS THE TEMPLE
• Eden's land has gold and onyx stone (Genesis 2:11–12).THE SANCTUARY'S MATERIALS — AND THE STONES ON THE PRIEST'S SHOULDERS, EXODUS 28
• A river flows out of Eden (Genesis 2:10).A RIVER FLOWS OUT OF EZEKIEL'S TEMPLE — EZEKIEL 47

Even the seventh day fits the pattern. Genesis 2 ends the same way the tabernacle story ends. The work is finished, looked over, blessed, and made holy (compare Exodus 39:43 and 40:33). And in the Bible, God rests when he moves into his house: "This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell" (Psalm 132:14).

This isn't a fringe idea. Scholars like John Walton and G. K. Beale, who don't share our view of the end times at all, have shown the same thing: Genesis describes Eden like a sanctuary. We point to them as witnesses to the words, not as supporters of our conclusions.