Home screen on Samsung Nexus S has vanished! Where did it go?

[Zullala]

I had to factory reset my phone because it was stuck in a boot-loop. After wiping the phone and starting her up I saw that the "home screen" was completely black and that the favorites tray was missing. When I left the home screen to check my voicemail I realized that I could not get back to it. The little house button would not take me to the screen, however the house button still showed me which apps were open. I tried to start it up again, but still the home screen was missing. I factory reset it again, and it was still the same. Oh, all the buttons on the home row work. There is no problem with them, it's the home screen itself that is the problem (at least I'm pretty sure).

I'm not sure how to use my phone if there is no home-screen. I can't figure out how to get to my apps without the home screen.