1. 1 Samuel 3:15 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why does Samuel open doors if there was no temple but just a tabernacle at the time?

1 Samuel 3:15 (ESV)

15 Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.

The reference to doors could indicate that there was a more permanent structure erected around the tabernacle at Shiloh, or it could simply refer to the veil that formed the entrance. The temple itself was only constructed in the time of Solomon (1 Kings 5:1 – 6:38).