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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
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