The sanctuary HaShem commissioned, chartered in one sentence: that I may dwell in their midst. Its purpose is nearness. A room named sanctuary that produces distance is wearing the word falsely.
The full definition
Mikdash comes from the root kadash, to set apart, the same root as kadosh. It names the set-apart place, and its charter is a single sentence in Exodus 25:8: v'asu li mikdash v'shachanti b'tocham, let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. The stated purpose of the only sanctuary HaShem ever commissioned is His nearness. In their midst. The set-apartness of the place served the closeness of the Presence.
That is worth sitting with, because English church vocabulary borrowed the word and moved it. The room where a modern congregation meets is called the sanctuary, and the name carries the Exodus charter whether the building knows it or not. A mikdash exists so that He may dwell in the middle of the people. A room where everything flows from a platform at the front, where one man speaks and the rest receive, is set up for the opposite of in-their-midst, and the name on the sign becomes testimony against the architecture.
The prophets keep the word's promise pointed forward. Ezekiel 37:26-28 stakes the covenant future on it: I will set My mikdash in their midst forevermore, My dwelling place shall be with them. The word never migrates to meaning a lecture hall. From charter to consummation, a mikdash is where He is close.
Key passages
- Exodus 25:8
- Leviticus 19:30
- Ezekiel 37:26-28
- Psalm 73:17