When, on the Day of Atonement, God said to Moses, "Let them make Me a
sanctuary, that I may dwell among them," that the nations of the world
might see that He has forgiven Israel their sin, the worship of the
Golden Calf, it was gold He bade them bring for the adornment of the
sanctuary. God said: "The gold of the Tabernacle shall serve as an
expiation for the gold they employed in the construction of the Golden
Calf. Besides gold, let them bring Me twelve other materials for the
construction of the Tabernacle: 'silver, brass, and blue, and purple,
and scarlet, fine linen, and goats' hair, and rams' skins dyed red, and
badgers' skins, and shittim wood, oil for the light, spices for
anointing-oil, and for sweet incense, onyx stones and stones to be set
in the ephod and in the breastplate.'" To these instructions, God added
these words: "But do not suppose that you are giving Me these thirteen
objects as gifts, for thirteen deed did I perform for you in Egypt,
which these thirteen objects now repay. For 'I clothed you with
broidered work, and shod you with badgers' skins, and girded you about
with fine linen, and I covered you with silk. I decked you also with
ornaments, and I put bracelets upon your arms, and chains about your
necks. And I put jewels on your foreheads, and earrings in your ears,
and a beautiful crown upon your heads.' But in the future world, in
return for these thirteen offerings to the Tabernacle, you shall
receive thirteen gifts from Me, when 'I shall create upon every
dwelling place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and
smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night, for upon all
the glory shall be a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle for a
shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for
a covert, from storms and from rain.'" God continued: "Give your
contributions to the sanctuary with a willing heart. Do not think that
you need give anything out of your pockets, for all you have belongs to
Me, through whom you received it in you passage through the Red Sea,
when you took their wealth from the Egyptians. [322] I demand nothing
from the other nations, but from you I do so, because it was I that led
you out of Egypt. But you shall erect a sanctuary to Me not in this
world only, but in the future world also. At first the Torah dwelt with
Me, but now that it is in your possession, you must let Me dwell among
you with the Torah."
Through the various objects God bade them dedicate to the sanctuary,
the course of their history was indicated. The gold signified their
yoke under Babylon, "the head of golds;" the silver pointed toward the
sovereignty of Persia and Media, who through silver tried to bring
about the destruction of Israel; brass stood for the Greek Empire, that
like this metal is of inferior quality, its rule also was less
significant than that of its predecessors in the sovereignty over the
world; the ram's skins dyed red indicate the sovereignty of "red Rome."
God now said to Israel: "Although you now behold the four nations that
will hold sway over you, still shall I send you help out of your
bondage, 'oil for the light,' the Messiah, who will enlighten the eyes
of Israel, and who will make use of 'spices for anointing-oil,' for he
will anoint the high priest, that once again 'I may accept you with
your sweet savour.'" [323]
When Moses was in heaven, God showed him the Tabernacle, as well as
models for all the holy vessels therein, hence Moses naturally supposed
that he was destined to be the builder of the Tabernacle. But he was
mistaken, for when he was about to leave heaven, God said to Moses:
"Thee have I appointed king, and it does not behoove a king to execute
works in person, but to give people directions. Therefore thou are not
to execute the building of the Tabernacle in person, but thou art to
give them thy directions to be executed." Moses now asked God whom he
should select as the man to carry out his orders, whereupon God fetched
out the book of Adam and laid it before Moses. In this book he found
recorded all the generations, from the creation of the world to the
resurrection of the dead, and the kings, leaders, and prophets set down
beside every generation. Then God said to Moses: "In that hour did I
decree every man's calling, and Bezalel was then appointed to his
task." [324]