The Future Temple

Many Jewish texts written after the destruction of the Second Temple express the conviction that a new Temple will eventually be built. The following passage from 1 Enoch is part of a vision of history told in symbolic imagery. In the culmination of the vision, Enoch sees a rebuilt Temple. Sheep, representing the faithful of Israel, are worshiped and obeyed by other animals, representing the other peoples of the world. The Tosefta, citing biblical prophecies about a return to Zion, expresses the hope that the Temple will be rebuilt in the near future.