[Forest Keeper]

FK: "Her womb became the Tabernacle? The Tabernacle was a holy place of worship. Is that what Mary's womb became?"

You better believe it. Of course. Her womb, as the Tabernacle, contained the Word of God.

This would seem to make Mary herself the equivalent of a holy church, or the Ark of the Covenant, or the Shroud, etc. This appears to me to be a bit dehumanizing, since it makes her into more of a "thing" than a person we can relate to. I don't understand it.

[Kolokotronis]

"You better believe it. Of course. Her womb, as the Tabernacle, contained the Word of God.

This would seem to make Mary herself the equivalent of a holy church, or the Ark of the Covenant, or the Shroud, etc. This appears to me to be a bit dehumanizing, since it makes her into more of a "thing" than a person we can relate to. I don't understand it."

She is compared to more than that, FK. In various services she is compared to the Holy of Holies, the golden candlesticks, incense urns; she is even called a "heifer" and a "butter mountain" in some versions of the Akathist Hymn. Speaking of which, here's a link to one form of the Akathist. Read the introduction so you can tell the difference between references to Christ and others to the Theotokos:

http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/m_akathist_e.htm

[annalex]

This would seem to make Mary herself the equivalent of a holy church, or the Ark of the Covenant, or the Shroud, etc. This appears to me to be a bit dehumanizing, since it makes her into more of a "thing" than a person we can relate to. I don't understand it.

I always thought of the Blessed Virgin as the Tabernacle and the Holy Church, and at the same time I pray to her and it would never occur to me that she is anything but a human being.

Typology is indeed hard to comprehend at times. Here is another quandary: the Church is (1) the body of christ, and (2) the Virgin Mary, and (3) the mystical bride of Christ.