It is the cradle of three great world religions. It is the symbol of order. If you turn toward the east, you see a road that heads down the mountain toward Jericho, an even more ancient city that stands on the edge of the wilderness, down near the Dead Sea. The wilderness of Israel is a desolate place. Hardly anything grows.
Nothing lives in the Dead Sea.
The road from Jerusalem to Jericho is a road that goes from civilization to the wilderness. It goes from order to chaos. Jesus once told a story about a man who was traveling the road between Jerusalem and Jericho when he was set upon by thieves, beaten and robbed. He would not have survived if a Samaritan had not stopped to help him. We always are on that very short road between Jerusalem and Jericho, between civilization and the wilderness, between order and chaos.