We really didn't come up with many answers from the cabin. But here's what we think:
- We first see the cabin in episode 3x20, The Man Behind the Curtain, when Ben takes Locke to the cabin and talks to an empty chair as if he were talking to Jacob. Then things begin to shake and Locke hears, "Help me." It's not clear who said this, but if I had to guess, I would say it was the Man in Black who was trapped in the house by the ash ring around the cabin (which doesn't explain how the smoke monster could be roaming around the island).
- Or, maybe the ash ring was around the cabin to keep the Man in Black out because Jacob really was living there. Maybe the Man in Black had crazy Claire break the ash ring so he could appear in the cabin as Christian to Locke. And perhaps he was there earlier, appearing to Locke as Jacob. Once the ring was broken and Man in Black could get in, Jacob moved to the foot statue (though we know he'd been living there way before present day).
- Jacob lived in the foot statue from the time that Man in Black and Mother died. The cabin was used as a meeting place for Ilana to find Jacob. The ash ring was meant to keep Man in Black out, but he was able to get in when someone (Claire?) broke it. The cabin was originally built by Horace, then taken over by Jacob, then taken over by Man in Black.
