Here at the end of Exodus, the building of the Tabernacle – the sacred sacrificial space, which is the blueprint for the Holy Temple – is carefully interwoven with the laws of Shabbat. Parashat Vayakhel even starts with a reminder about keeping Shabbat, before it turns to the gifts given by the Israelites for the building of the Tabernacle.
The important word, which is repeated throughout our Shabbat obligations and the creation of the tabernacle, is melachah (labour). We must do no melachah on Shabbat; the building of the Tabernacle is melakhah. And, of course, we know melachah as the work that God rested from on the seventh day.
In Mishnah Shabbat (7:2), the rabbis devise a list of acts considered melachah based on the construction of the Tabernacle, due to this linguistic connection. However, this is not only an exegetical tool – it is a deep philosophical truth about the nature of Shabbat.
The building of the sacred space reflects the building of the universe.
