The 1st Book of Samuel opens with a story about a man named Elkanah and his two wives, Peninnah and Hannah. Peninnah had children but Hannah didn't.

Every year the family went to worship the Lord at the tabernacle in Shiloh. Elkanah gave his wives something to offer to the Lord. He gave Hannah a double amount to offer because he specially loved her and wanted her to be blessed.

One year during their worship at the tabernacle, Hannah was very sad because she didn’t have any children. She cried and begged the Lord for a son as she prayed. She promised the Lord that if He gave her a son, she would give her son back to serve the Lord all his life.

Eli, the high priest, saw her mouth move as she prayed but didn’t hear any words. So, he thought that she was drunk. She explained that she wasn’t drunk but very sad and was praying to the Lord. Then Eli understood and sent her on her way with his blessing.

The Lord heard Hannah’s prayer and soon she had a son. She named her son Samuel, which means “God heard.”

Each year the family went to worship the Lord, but Hannah stayed home taking care of Samuel. Then, when Samuel was weaned and could live away from her, she took Samuel back to Shiloh, so he could spend his life there, learning from Eli, and serving the Lord. 

Sometimes, we are like Hannah. We may be sad because of something we don’t have or can’t do. We may feel that we will never be happy without this. When we ask the Lord to help us, he can show us the way to be truly happy now and forever.

The name “Hannah” means favor or grace. Hannah is like any of us, as we ask for the Lord’s grace to give us true happiness.

Hannah’s grief-filled prayer took place at the tabernacle in Shiloh. “Shiloh” means peace. In fact, Shiloh represents the kind of peace that only the Lord Himself can give. (See Arcana Coelestia 6373.) And what is the thing that is missing in someone’s life? Often, that missing thing is the truth. The more truth we have and the more we understand the Lord, and ourselves, and the path that our life should take, the more of that true happiness we can find. (See Apocalypse Explained 375:2, 3.)

9784. 'In the tent of meeting' means the Lord's presence. This is clear from the consideration that the tent was made for the express purpose of providing a place for the Lord to meet Moses and Aaron, and also the children of Israel. Therefore also the holy act of worship was performed there, as the following verses in Exodus make clear,

They shall make the continual burnt offering at the door of the tent of meeting before Jehovah, where I will meet you to speak to you there. And there I will meet the children of Israel; and it shall be sanctified by My glory. And I will sanctify the tent of meeting and the altar; and Aaron and his sons I will sanctify to perform the priestly function for Me. And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel. Exodus 29:42-45.

And there is another place which declares that the Lord would meet them there or would be present there,

When all these things had been completed the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Jehovah filled the dwelling-place. And Moses could not enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud dwelt over it, and the glory of Jehovah filled the dwelling-place. The cloud of Jehovah was over the dwelling-place by day, and fire was in it by night, in the eyes of all the house of Israel. Exodus 40:33-end.

From these places it becomes clear that 'the tent of meeting' means the place where the Lord's presence is. It does so because the tent represented heaven, and heaven is heaven by virtue of the Lord's presence there, on which account also it was called Jehovah's dwelling-place.