The Purpose of the Temple/Tabernacle

My thesis (M.Div.) will discuss the themes of Temple and Kingdom from the Gospels of John and Matthew, respectively. As always seems to happen with research, I've run across tangents that I'd still like to explore. This may well be the best venue, at least until I have something in publishable form.

This particular tangent was a thought I had regarding the purpose of the Temple. Here goes:

The overarching purpose of the Tabernacle (and, by extension, the Temple) is God's presence, out of which flows the need for atonement in order to enter his presence, and the need for worship to respond to his presence. These three—presence, atonement, and worship—describe all of the major ritual roles of the Tabernacle described in the Law. For example, Exodus 25-30 recounts the structures of the Tabernacle and their purposes. Each item either plays a part in the atonement ritual or celebrates God's presence in a tangible way. Leviticus 1-9 describes the rituals of atonement and worship, and the degree to which the two are consistently so closely intertwined throughout the text suggests that their interweaving is intentional. In addition, the many passages within the Law that dictate proper expressions of worship all hold a common thread: worship is to be in the presence of God, at the Tabernacle.

So, to restate, while presence is the key symbol here, atonement and worship are the active images describing the responses of the people to God's presence, and the structures and rituals of the Temple all reflect this in some way.

Any ideas on this? I'd welcome any refining or critique. It's an intriguing enough idea that I believe it merits a lot more thought. More than I currently have to devote to it, I'm afraid. It also occurs to me that I've missed the purification aspect of so many of the rituals. Purification has obvious ties to God's presence, as his people must be clean/pure/sanctified in order to enter his presence. I'm sure I've missed something else--feel free to let me know in the comments.

The ramifications of this view of the Temple extend to the church, as well. Jesus, as the preeminent Temple in his incarnation, certainly fulfilled the atonement imagery perfectly. How should the church, as God's Temple on earth now (1 Cor. 6, among others), fulfill the worship and purification imagery?

Thoughts to ponder, I suppose.