Archaic KJV Word
Tabernacle
Modern equivalent: church building
What Was Lost
God camping with humans. The mishkan was a tent pitched in the middle of the Israelite camp -- God chose to live in a tent because His people lived in tents. John 1:14 literally says 'the Word became flesh and tabernacled (pitched His tent) among us.' God's choice of a tent over a palace was a theological statement about intimacy and solidarity.
Closest Survivor in Modern English
tabernacle (still used in Christian theology but the tent/camping-with-you meaning deserves deepening)
Peak Usage (1611)
KJV Exodus 25:8 -- 'Let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them'; John 1:14 -- 'The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us' (lit. 'tabernacled')
Died still used but building-ized (~1800)
Hebrew mishkan ('dwelling place/tent of God's presence among His people') and Greek skenoo ('to pitch a tent/take up residence') were reduced to 'a type of church building.' The stunning theological concept of God camping among humans was lost to architecture.
What Replaced It
“church building”
Permanent structure; the tabernacle was deliberately portable -- God moved with His people
“temple”
Fixed and grand; the tabernacle was a tent, emphasizing God's willingness to be mobile and close
“sanctuary”
Formal worship space; mishkan meant 'dwelling' -- God's home address was in the middle of the camp