Whenever you have a spare hour, and a computer, line up, side by side, Exodus 25 through 30 and 35 through 40. The amazing thing – though almost mind numbing – is the great similarity between these chapters. Note just the lampstand for example:
God said: “Make a lampstand of pure gold and hammer it out, base and shaft; its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms shall be one with it” (27:31). Then, in 37:17, “They made the lampstand of pure gold and hammered it out, base and shaft; its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms were of one piece with it”
In fact, in the last two chapters of Exodus, Moses notes not less than fourteen times that Israel built the tabernacle, and everything in it, just “as God commanded them.” It was then that God took up His dwelling among them, and remained a visible presence among them “in the sight of all the house of Israel” wherever they went.
Our obedience is not how we coerce blessings from God. As God’s children, he longs to bless us. In fact, the blessings are already ours. But the presence of the Lord among us, and his blessings, do not come and are not seen among the disobedient. Only the obedient are blessed. It was true in ancient Israel. It’s still true today.