Jesus the new Temple

John 2:19-21 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body.

• God dwelt in two places at the same time: in heaven (Dt 26:15; 1 Kg 8:39) and in the tabernacle of the temple with his people as the Glory Cloud (Holy Spirit) (Ex 40:30; 1 Kgs 8:10); God the Father in heaven (Mt 6:9) and Jesus, the Word, who tabernacled among us on earth (Jn 1:14)

• Covering: made of animal skins for the tabernacle, tent of meeting (Ex 26:14); the Word tabernacled in human flesh (Jn 1:14)

• The veil: the Glory Cloud is hidden behind a veil (Ex 40:21); God the Father is revealed by Jesus (Jn 14:6-8) and at his death when the veil / his flesh is torn (Mt 27:50-51; Heb 10:20)

• Visible face of God: the symbolic bread of the Presence (Ex 25:30) outside the veil in the Holy Place (Ex 26:35); Jesus’s real presence in the Eucharist (Mt 26:26; Jn 6:48-51) at mass and in the tabernacles of churches

• Where true worship (sacrifice) occurs: only in the temple (Lev 17:8-9; Dt 12:5-6); Jesus's self-sacrifice on the cross (Heb 9:14)