The last Torah portion of the Book of Exodus details the completion and accounting of the construction of the Tabernacle. It reminds us that it is the “Tabernacle of the Pact,” meaning that it contains the Tablets of the Pact (i.e., the two tablets with the Ten Commandments hewn into them) inside the Ark of the Covenant.
It further recaps that it was built according to Moses’ instructions, assembled and transported by the Levites under the management of Ithamar, son of Aaron the High Priest, and designed and fabricated under the leadership of Betzalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, together with Oholiab, son of Ahisamach.
Rabbi Ovadia Sforno (1475–1549), on Exodus 38:21, states that rehashing these details of the Tabernacle’s construction serves to emphasize that every element of the original Tabernacle is still in existence and was never captured by Israel’s enemies.
The reason that all the articles of the Tabernacle merited everlasting existence and were spared from enemy hands was because of all the above-mentioned criteria—namely, that the Tablets were housed in it, Moses commissioned it, Ithamar and the Levites managed it, and Betzalel and his team formed it. What was special about all these elements and people was that they carried out their roles with such purity of purpose that the Divine Presence itself rested upon this work of man. Their selfless dedication to their holy task infused the materials with an eternal, indestructible, and indomitable power that no human agency could ever overcome.
Such was not the case with Solomon’s Temple or the Second Temple, both of which were eventually destroyed and their vessels taken. Their construction did not reflect the same level of selfless or transcendental commitment as that of the Tabernacle. They did not exhibit the same level of purity and dedication as Moses, Ithamar, and Betzalel, and therefore the Divine Presence did not embed itself in the same unconquerable fashion as it did with the Tabernacle.
May we merit to assist with the design, construction, and management of the Third Temple in Jerusalem, with purity, selflessness, and dedication, speedily in our days.
Shabbat Shalom
