The earthly tent and the heavenly dwelling

After making all these things clear to us, Paul calls the present things temporary and the future things eternal, and then he sets in motion his argument about the resurrection. He says: “For we know that if our earthly dwelling of the tent is dissolved, we have a dwelling from God, not made by hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1).

Notice again here how precisely he uses his words, showing the force of his thoughts through the very names he chooses. He did not simply call the body a tent. He did so to point out to us the temporary character of our present life and to make clear the change for the better. He is all but saying: Why do you groan and weep, beloved, because you are beaten and driven out and thrown into prison? Why do you lament these partial hardships, when you ought to welcome the complete dissolution of the body—or rather, not simply of the body, but of the corruption in the body?

To show that these partial hardships not only should not grieve us but should actually make us rejoice, he shows that the complete and final taking down is something we pray for. That is why he speaks of the dissolution that comes through death. And again: “For in this tent we groan, longing to put on over it our dwelling place from heaven” (2 Corinthians 5:2).

He calls it “the dwelling of the tent,” meaning either the body by both names together, or “the dwelling of the tent” meaning the houses in which we live, the cities, the whole shape of this present life. And he did not simply say “I know,” but “we know,” drawing his hearers into his own conviction. “I am not discussing matters that are in doubt,” he says, “nor things that are unknown, but things for which you have already received the faith, since you have believed in the resurrection of the Lord.” That is why we also call the bodies of those who have departed “tents.”

Notice how precisely he uses the word. He did not say, “It is destroyed and made to disappear,” but “It is dissolved,” showing that it is dissolved so that it may rise again more radiant and more splendid. Then, just as he made a comparison in the case of labors and prizes—from quality, from time, and from quantity—so he does here as well. He calls the body that falls a tent, but the body that rises a dwelling. And not simply a dwelling, but an eternal one. And not simply eternal, but heavenly, showing its superiority both from time and from place. For this one is earthly, but that one is heavenly. This one is temporary, but that one is eternal.

Now we need both a body and houses because of the weakness of the flesh. But then the same thing will be both body and dwelling, needing no roof and no coverings of any kind, since incorruption will be enough for it in place of everything.

Then, showing the superiority of the good things stored up in it, he says: “For in this tent we groan.” He did not say, “I groan,” but he makes the conviction a shared one. “For in this tent,” he says, “we groan,” wanting to draw them into his own way of thinking and make them partners in his judgment. “For in this tent we groan, longing to put on over it our dwelling place from heaven” (2 Corinthians 5:2). He did not say simply “to put on,” but “to put on over.” And he adds: “If indeed, having put it on, we will not be found naked” (2 Corinthians 5:3).