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When, on that memorable Day of Atonement, God indicated His forgiveness to Israel with the
words, "I have forgiven them according as I have spoken," Moses said: "I
now feel convinced that Thou hast forgiven Israel, but I wish Thou wouldst show the
nations also that Thou are reconciled with Israel." For these were saying: "How
can a nation that heard God's word on Sinai, 'Thou shalt have no other gods before Me,'
and that forty days later called out to the Calf, 'This is thy god, O Israel,' expect that
God would ever be reconciled to them?" God therefore said to Moses: "As truly as
thou livest, I will let My Shekinah dwell among them, so that all my know that I have
forgiven Israel. My sanctuary in their midst will be a testimony of My forgiveness of
their sins, and hence it may well be called a 'Tabernacle of Testimony.'" 316
The erection of a sanctuary among Israel was begun in answer to a direct appeal from the
people, who said to God: "O Lord of the world! The kings of the nations have palaces
in which are set a table, candlesticks, and other royal insignia, that their king may be
recognized as such. Shalt not Thou, too, our King, Redeemer, and Helper, employ royal
insignia, that all the dwellers of the earth may recognize that Thou are their King?"
God replied: "My children, the kings of the flesh and blood need all these things,
but I do not, for I need neither food nor drink; nor is light necessary to Me, as can well
be seen by this, that My servants, the sun and the moon, illuminate all the world with the
light they receive from Me; hence ye need do none of these things for Me, for without
these signs of honor will I let all good things fall to your lot in recognition of the
merits of your fathers." But Israel answered: "O Lord of the world! We do not
want to depend on our fathers. 'Doubtless Thou are our Father, though Abraham be ignorant
of us, and Israel acknowledge us not." God hereupon said: "If you now insist
upon carrying out your wish, do so, but do it in the way I command you. It is customary in
the world that whosoever had a little son, cares for him, anoints him, washes him, feeds
him, and carries him, but as soon as the son is come of age, he provides for his father a
beautiful dwelling, a table, and a candlestick. So long as you were young, did I provide
for you, washed you, fed you with bread and meat, gave you water to drink, and bore you on
eagles' wings; but now that you are come of age, I wish you to build a house for Me, set
therein a table and a candlestick, and make an altar of incense within it." 317 God
then gave them detailed instruction for furnishing the Tabernacle, saying to Moses;
"Tell Israel that I order them to build Me a tabernacle not because I lack a
dwelling, for, even before the world had been created, I had erected My temple in the
heavens; but only as a token of My affection for you will I leave My heavenly temple and
dwell among you, 'they shall make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.'"
At these last words Moses seized by a great fear, such as had taken possession of him only
on two other occasions. Once, when God said to him, "Let each give a ransom for his
soul," when, much alarmed, he said: "If a man were to give all that he hath for
his soul, it would not suffice." God quieted him with the words, "I do not ask
what is due Me, but only what they can fulfil, half a shekel will suffice." Then
again, fear stirred Moses when God said to him: "Speak to Israel concerning My
offering, and My bread for My sacrifices made by fire," and he said trembling,
"Who can bring sufficient offerings to Thee? 'Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor
the beast thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.'" Then again God quieted him with
the words, "I demand not according to what is due Me, but only that which they can
fulfil, one sheep as a morning sacrifice, and one sheep as an evening sacrifice." The
third time, God was in the midst of giving Moses instructions concerning the building of
the sanctuary, when Moses exclaimed in fear: "Behold, the heaven and heaven of
heavens cannot contain Thee, how much less this sanctuary that we are to build Thee?"
And this time also God quieted him with the words, "I do not ask what is due Me, but
only that which they can fulfil; twenty boards to the north, as many to the south, eight
in the west, and I shall then so draw My Shekinah together that it may find room under
them." 318 God was indeed anxious to have a sanctuary erected to Him, it was the
condition on which He led them out of Egypt, 319 yea, in a certain sense the existence
of all the world depended on the construction of the sanctuary, for when the sanctuary had
been erected, the world stood firmly founded, whereas until then it had always been
swaying hither and thither. 320 Hence the Tabernacle in its separate parts also
corresponded to the heaven and the earth, that had been created on the first day. As the
firmament had been created on the second day to divide the waters which were under the
firmament from the waters which were above, so there was a curtain in the Tabernacle to
divide between the holy and the most holy. As God created the great sea on the third say,
so did He appoint the laver in the sanctuary to symbolize it, and as He had on that day
destined the plant kingdom as nourishment for man, so did He now require a table with
bread in the Tabernacle. The candlestick in the Tabernacle corresponded to the two
luminous bodies, the sun and the moon, created on the fourth day; and the seven branches
of the candlestick corresponded to the seven planets, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, the Moon,
Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. Corresponding to the birds created on the fifth day, the
Tabernacle contained the Cherubim, that had wings like birds. On the sixth, the last day
of creation, man had been created in the image of God to glorify his Creator, and likewise
was the high priest anointed to minister in the Tabernacle before the Lord and Creator.
321
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