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The parasha this Shabbat is Pekudei, meaning accounts, and concludes the book of Exodus. Bezalel and Oholiab and those working with them skillfully and lovingly crafted the articles for the Mishkan. Aaron’s son Ithamar was the one tasked with recording the numbers – tallying up all the materials used, and making sure that everything was accounted for, and nothing wasted. It was Israel’s first Department of Government Efficiency. I wonder if Ithamar’s mother was proudly saying, “My son, the accountant.”

You may recall that Moses ran into a problem – but a good problem. People were bringing more than what was needed. They brought so much gold and silver, fabrics and precious stones, that Moses finally had to say “dayenu!” and urge people not to bring any more. What a beautiful picture of a people set free, forgiven, and eager to do God’s bidding.

By today’s standards the cost of constructing the Tabernacle (not including the labor) was staggering! Over 29 talents (2,175 lbs.) just in gold was used, which at the closing price of gold yesterday comes to over $107 Million. And the silver weighed in at 7,545 pounds, which is over $4 Million. Much of the silver was obtained from the half-shekel tax paid by every male over the age of twenty who was registered in the census. Add to that the wood, the many precious stones, the animal skins, colored fabrics and rare oils and spices! Where did Israel get all these riches? Simple: Egypt. Remember, God promised Abraham that his descendants would leave Egypt with great riches. Call it back-pay for four hundred years of unpaid slave labor.

One detail that stands out in the design of the Tabernacle is that just as much attention was given to the interior details as to the exterior. For example, the Ark of the Covenant was inlaid with gold both inside and out. But once it was sealed, no one would ever see the inside of the Ark again. So, why beautify the inside? I believe it is a picture of what God wants from you and me – integrity. Does your private world correspond to your public persona? If not, you are not alone, and there is a remedy. Confess it before the Lord, and allow Him to cleanse you from the inside out, for we are called to holiness. As Rabbi Paul wrote, Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you… and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

In chapter 40 God commanded Moses to anoint all the furnishings of the Tabernacle with the special oil dedicated for this purpose. Moses did so and put the sacred garments on Aaron and his sons, anointing them with oil. Then the Ark was brought in and set behind the veil. The lampstand was put in place and Moses lit that lampstand, which was never to go out. A veil was put in place around the Tabernacle and Moses burned incense on the golden altar. He offered a burnt offering and a meal offering, and washed in the bronze washbin, and completed the work, and it would be the last time Moses set foot in the Most Holy Place, since Aaron, not he, was the High Priest. Suddenly, the cloud of the Lord covered the Tent of Meeting, and His kavod – His glory filled the place. Thus, Adonai went before Israel in cloud by day and in fire by night all the days of their sojourning.

As wondrous and costly as the Tabernacle was, it paled by comparison to the beauty in which God manifested His glorious presence on Earth in the person of Messiah Yeshua. The author of The Letter to the Messianic Jews (Hebrews) had this to say: But when Messiah appeared as a High Priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect Tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this Creation.

So, what are you investing in? Is your heart stirred within you to do something for God’s Kingdom? We’ve all been entrusted with various gifts and giftings, so let’s be faithful stewards and put them to work in our Shema community to the glory of God… the God of second chances.