Why was the dwelling in the Beis Hamikdash all the days of his life, Dovid Hamelech's sole exclusive desire as he writes (Tehillim 27,4) אחת שאלתי מאת ה' אותה אבקש שבתי בבית ה' כל ימי חיי לחזות בנועם ה' ולבקר בהיכלו. What did he mean when he requested from Hashem to merit to לחזות בנועם ה' to see the pleasantness of Hashem? שבתי בבית ה' just to sit in the House of Hashem his entire life without doing anything else was the greatest ecstasy that man can desire and attain on this world. מתי אבוא ואראה פני אלקים Dovid Hamelech yearned when will I come to see the פני אלקים in the Beis Hamikdash. What did Dovid mean that in the Beis Hamikdash to see the פני אלקים ? The gemarah in Taanis 26b on the passuk Shir Hashirim 3,11
צאינה וראינה בנות ציון במלך שלמה בעטרה שעטרה לו אמו ביום חתונתו וביום שמחת לבו ביום חתונתו זה מתן תורה וביום שמחת לבו זה בנין בית המקדש שיבנה במהרה Shlomo Hamelech describes Matan Torah as a marriage between Yisrael and Hashem in contrast to the day of finishing the building of the Beis Hamikdash which is described with even a greater accolade the day that Hashem's heart was in bliss. What is the underlying secret that made the Beis Hamikdash a deeper experience of happiness for Hashem even more than Matan Torah? Chazal tell us (Berachos 55)
אמר רב יהודה אמר רב יודע היה בצלאל לצרף אותיות שנבראו בהן שמים וארץ Bezalel understood to join together the letters with which Hashem created the heavens and earth. Why was this specific knowledge necessary in order to build the Mishkan? It sounds like the building of the Mishkan was similar to the creation of the world. How can we in תשפ"ה relate to all of these concepts and experiences which seem way beyond our grasp and basic comprehension?
The Nesivos Shalom opens for us a tiny window through which a little light of seeps through in order for us to reframe our lives and revitalize the cognizance of our mission and purpose during our lifetime דרכי נועם תשסג פ' תרומה) ). The Ari writes that when Hashem wanted to create the world the Infinite Light of Hashem filled everything, and it was only through Hashem's צמצום reduction and contraction of this light all the worlds including our physical world came into being. It was the letters of the Aleph Beis which served as a conduit to make this creation possible.
However Hashem desired to have a place on earth where this constriction would not take place but rather the Light of the Ain Sof can be expressed and revealed. That place was the Beis Hamikdash ושכנתי בתוכם I will dwell there. Here again the letters of the Aleph Beis were to be used for the reverse process in order to reduce and contract the physicality which was present in the location of the Beis Hamikdash and to make room for the Infinite Light to dwell amongst us. That is the reason that the space in the Mikdash took on a supernatural character such as the Aron did not take up any physical space (Yuma 21). The Mishna (Avos 5,5) also says that there were ten constant daily miracles present in the Beis Hamikdash which made its space other worldly.
This interpretation makes it easier to explain ושכנתי בתוכם . For it is true that מלא כל הארץ כבודו, however the Shechinah rests in the world of constriction, in contrast to the Beis Hamikdash where the Shechinah dwells there the same way it existed before the world was created without compromise and reduction.
To this level of "Shechinah Revelation" in the Beis Hamikdash the pasuk in Shir Hashirim 5,1 באתי לגני אחותי כלה says that this event is the second time that I came into Gan Eden. The first time was 2449 years before that on the sixth day of creation whereupon the Shechinah that was present there was unreduced and unadulterated. To this environment of experiencing the Shechina full dose undiluted, Dovid Hamelech davened for אחת שאלתי מאת ה' אותה אבקש my greatest request is to bask in the air and atmosphere of the Beis Hamikdash my entire life, in order to feel the intimacy with Hashem without the sensations and energy of physicality to distract me. The Mesillas Yesharim begins his sefer with the following
והנה מה שהורונו חכמינו זכרונם לברכה הוא, שהאדם לא נברא אלא להתענג על ה' ולהנות מזיו שכינתו שזהו התענוג האמיתי והעידון הגדול מכל העידונים שיכולים להמצא. ומקום העידון הזה באמת הוא העולם הבא, כי הוא הנברא בהכנה המצטרכת לדבר הזה.
Olam Habah is the destined place for one to receive the reward of להתענג על ה' for aii his correct choices in this world of uncertainty and opaqueness. In the Beis Hamikdash which is described as Gan Eden, the accessibility of the experience of such an עונג was there. Understandably not everyone could feel the deeper experience available. It all depended on one's deep desire to have that intimacy with Hashem. For that desire aligned itself with the תאוה of Hashem להיות לו דירה בתחתונים . This is alluded to in the first letter of the Torah which is a בית the gematria of תאוה . Hashem's fulfillment of that תאוה found its resting place in the Bayis of the Mikdash. As Dovid says on himself (Tehillim 84) נכספה וגם כלתה נפשי לחצרות ה' . The perek continues עוברי בעמק הבכא מעין ישיתיהו . When those who sought closeness with Hashem came to the Beis Hamikdash, tears would flow from their eyes like a fountain over the regretful thought of how they could have waited so long and miss out on this most exhilarating and uplifting feeling of closeness and the pleasure of intimacy with Hashem, that they were feeling at the present moment. They would pinch and ask themselves in disbelief where was I up to now? What was I thinking that I traded my neshama for some cheap earthly trinkets and worthless experiences that distanced me from the source of life and infinity?
אחת שאלתי מאת יהו' Dovid Hamelech searched to find the ultimate experience of Olam Haba the truth, in this jungle of Olam Hazeh which is full of sheker and falsehood. The only place which was quarantined from sheker was the Beis Hamikdash. This is hinted in the word שאלתי which is the acronym שפת אמת תכון לעד (Mishlei 12,19). A language is composed of letters. These letters of truth of creation, Bezalel used to form this one of a kind zone called the Beis Hamikdash in order to serve as a place of sanity in a world of insanity, a place of perfect clarity in a world of total distortion, a place of shalom, oneness, and wholesomeness in a world of hatred, fragmentation, and selfishness. The letter yud of שאלתי symbolizes the first letter of Hashem's name and the Ten miracles that were constantly present at the Makom of the Mikdash.
Yet the word שאלתי also means to borrow like we find in the parsha of shomrim. The Beis Hamikdash does not really belong here but it was on loan that we borrowed from Olam Habah to help facilitate our discovery of Hashem in His place of concealment in this world of nature. We too must make for Hashem safe and guarded zones that are free from physical disturbances and negative energy that hinder our closeness with Hashem. Whether it be at shul which is called a Mikdash M'at, one's home in which the Shechinah dwells when there is Shalom Bayis, or in Yeshiva, we can draw from the ohr of the Beis Hamikdash into ourselves on the condition we make these places zone free from physical elements that disturb or intrude on our intimate connection with Hashem.