Eden, the first temple

Here's an experiment you can run with two open Bibles. Read Genesis 2. Keep Exodus open beside it, at the tabernacle chapters. Now watch the same words show up on both pages.

• 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 — men 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.