פירוש על בראשית 28:22

והאבן הזאת THEN THIS STONE — This is how you should explain the ו of והאבן: if He will do these things mentioned in Genesis 28:15 as He promised, then I, also, will do this:

עשר אעשרנו לו, to present to Him a burnt offering.

והאבן הזאת, and concerning this stone, etc. According to Zohar 1,72 the stone in question is the אבן שתיה, the stone G'd used as the foundation of the Holy Temple and which He had buried in the interval in the depths of the abyss at the "navel" of the earth. According to Tanchuma Parshat Terumah, Jacob prepared the shittim wood for the Tabernacle in the desert at this time. Perhaps this is what G'd referred to in Exodus 25,8 when He said: "They shall make for Me a Sanctuary;" G'd referred to this wood from which the Israelites were to construct this Sanctuary. When the Torah there continued: "and I shall dwell amongst them," G'd may have referred to preparations made by Jacob for both the Tabernacle and the Holy Temple.