"And the Lord spoke unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the tent of the meeting." [Bamidbar 1.3]

The Sinai wilderness has always had a special significance for the Jewish people, with Mt. Sinai standing as the symbol of a wandering nation receiving the Torah when the Almighty revealed Himself to them. Yet despite all of its historic significance. Mt. Sinai did not maintain its sanctity after the Children of Israel received the Torah, nor did it remain a holy site throughout the generations.

God transferred His presence instead from the mountain to the Tabernacle. The Ibn Ezra comments that after God moved His presence, Moses never again ascended Mt. Sinai. After the Jewish nation entered the Land of Israel, the Tabernacle's sanctity was transferred to the Mishkan in Shiloh, and later to Mt. Moriah, the site of the Temple in Jerusalem which has retained that sanctity to this day.

Why is it that the Temple Mount retained its sanctity long after the Temples had actually stood there, whereas the sanctity of Mt. Sinai was terminated immediately after the Torah was given there? The difference is that Mt. Sinai was sanctified by the Almighty only for that hour, for the purpose of giving the Torah, whereas the sanctity of Mt. Moriah derives from the actions of human beings - Abraham, who was prepared to sacrifice his beloved son there and the masses, who devoted themselves to the construction of the Temple.

Thus, it is understood that when God commands Moses to conduct a census of the people, He commands him to do so not from Mt. Sinai, a place whose sanctity had passes, but rather from within the Tabernacle, where God's presence resides, because it was built and sanctified by the people themselves. When a location becomes sanctified by the toil and commitment of human beings, mortals of flesh and blood, its holiness is eternal.