Why is Ka'aba important in Muslim history?
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This is a reference from Wikipedia.
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One of the Five Pillars of Islam requires every capable Muslim to perform the Hajj pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime. Multiple parts of the Hajj require pilgrims to walk several times around the Kaaba in a counter-clockwise direction
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaaba
This reference mentions how Abraham was tested.
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The most testing trial of Abraham's faith was God's command for the patriarch to slay his own son. After much agonising and an encounter with Satan which culminated in the stoning of the Devil, Abraham agreed to obey but God spared him and accepted the sacrifice of a ram instead. This is the basis of the Stoning of the Pillars ritual in Mina during the Hajj.
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http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1006053003924
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The History of Kaaba As A Place Of Worship
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Kaaba, also known as, Ka'bah, Kabah and Caaba is the center of the holiest place of worship in Islam (Submission in English), i.e. the Sacred Mosque of Mecca, Al Masjid Al-Haram. Its name is an Arabic word that means a home or a room that looks like a cube.. It is a cube shaped stone structure built in the middle of the Sacred Mosque. The Kaaba was built by prophet Abraham as a landmark for the House of God, for the sole purpose of worshipping of God alone. Kaaba is the center of the circumambulations performed during the pilgrimage (hajj), and it is toward the Kaaba that Muslims face in their prayers (salat).
Khaba thaught to be the location of sacrifice:
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Noted Christian Apologist, John Gilchrist states:
"Secular history knows of only one form of pre-Islamic veneration of the Ka'aba and that is the Idolatry of the pagan Arabs. There is no corroborative evidence whatsoever for the Qur'an's claim that the Ka'aba was initially a house of monotheistic worship. Instead there certainly is evidence as far back as history can trace the origins and worship of the Ka'aba that it was thoroughly pagan and idolatrous in content and emphasis ... the Ka'aba was purely a shrine of thriving pagan idolatry." (6: p. 16).
Therefore, it is purely wishful thinking for Muslims to use the rites of the Hajj as proof that Abraham offered up Ishmael at Mecca near the Kabah, since pre-Islamic history indicates that these rites were nothing more than pagan customs adopted by Muhammad into Islam.
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http://www.submission.org/hajj/kaaba.html
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I couldn't find any specific information about what the three pillars symbolize. I don't know much in this topic because I am not a Muslim :(
However I found that the Muslims throw stones at three pillars (I think this is what you ask for) which stand in the site where Satan met Abraham & Ismail and tempted them to disobey God. I think the above mentions some other pillars as the three pillars inside the Kaaba does nothing except they hold up the roof.
What do the three pillar symbolize?