Question
Why did Joshua establish a religious center at Shiloh?
Answer
The Tabernacle was set up in Shiloh in Joshua’s time; see Joshua 18:1. That verse speaks only of the "Tent" (Ohel Moed), but the Tabernacle (Mishkan) is surely also meant (see Psalms 86:60); thus the Ark and the other objects in the Mishkan were surely there too. According to Ibn Ezra, Jacob’s statement "until Shiloh comes" in his blessing of Judah (Gen. 49:10) alludes to the fact that the Tabernacle would be at Shiloh, and that the reign of Judah’s descendants (i.e., David’s dynasty) would begin only when [the end of] Shiloh came (when the "sun" of Shiloh set?). Thus Jacob was telling his sons that Shiloh would be the center of worship before Jerusalem.