The Nursery of the Kingdom
In Trees and Thorns, James Jordan points out that on the Sixth Day God creates man first and then plants the Garden. God did not create Adam already in the Garden. He didn’t create the Garden first and then create the man and move him into the Garden. He created Adam first and then He planted the Garden. That order must be significant.
It appears that God wanted Adam to see Him planting the Garden. After all, Adam was himself going to be a gardener and would start out “serving and guarding” Yahweh’s own Garden. Later, when Adam went out into the world, he would serve the ground, growing grain. But later still, he would be able to plant his own garden, his own orchard, where he would grow his own fruit. First God builds His sanctuary-house; later, Adam would build a house for himself. By creating Adam first and then planting the Garden while Adam watched, God was establishing patterns for Adam to follow.
Jordan writes:
So, God sets up the garden-sanctuary and puts Adam into it, just as God sets up the Church and puts us into it. Adam watched God build His garden-house, and learned something about building his own garden-house. Similarly, from studying how God has set up the church — her structure, government, financing, etc. — we learn how to set up our own domestic and national governments. This is why the Bible spends so much time on Church government and law, and comparatively little on national government and law. The Church is the nursery of the Kingdom, and the principles we learn in the Church are to be carried forth in the transformation of family, state, and other institutions (p. 27).