The Tabernacle Destroyed

Somehow, I've tended to imagine that the central place of worship for OT Israel was the tabernacle right up until the time that the Ark of the Covenant was transferred into Solomon's temple.

(This, despite the fact that I had read 1 Chronicles 13 a few times, and that chapter mentions the Ark residing in a couple of houses.)

In Sunday school at Kosmosdale Baptist Church, my friend Tim Scott has been teaching through 1 Samuel. When teaching through 1 Samuel 4, he noted that many Bible scholars believe when the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant, that they continued to advance, and destroyed the Tabernacle, which was apparently not rebuilt.

One supporting text for this idea-- besides, possibly, 1 Chronicles 13-- is Psalm 78:56-64, which mentions  God abandoning Shiloh-- the place at which the tabernacle was located-- in context of speaking about the Ark of the Covenant being captured.

The idea of the tabernacle being destroyed re-enforces the idea of the sever penalty God brings upon people when they turn their backs on Him.