In First Kings, chapter eight, verse four, the tabernacle was a tent-like structure that provided a portable place of worship for the Israelites as they moved about in the wilderness. After the Israelites settled in their homeland, David desired to build a permanent house of worship for the Lord.
The tabernacle of the congregation was still at Gibeon, and the priests and Levites were in a division between it and the lesser tabernacle over the ark on Mount Zion. Perhaps each section of the priests and Levites now brought up in solemn procession the sacred things entrusted to them. According to the order of the Mosaic law as in Numbers three, twenty-five to thirty-seven, the Kohathites had a charge on the march of the ark and the vessels, the Gershonites of the tabernacle and its hangings, and the Merarites of the boards and pillars of the tabernacle and the outer court. This order, no doubt, was followed as far as possible on this last journey. What became of the tabernacle and its furniture are not told. But all was probably deposited, as a sacred relic of antiquity, somewhere in the precincts of the Temple. That seems to imply in the famous Jewish tradition that Jeremiah was enabled to hide by miracle “the Tabernacle and the ark and the altar of incense” on the destruction of the Temple.
For believers today, the church is a house of worship where we can settle. Visiting churches is a great experience to see how followers of Christ are living. However, the Israelites were in a different situation than we are now. Still, new converts who have received salvation may be looking for a church to settle in and like a wilderness-type experience. Therefore, believers should ask God to guide them to find the right place.