The end of Exodus seems repetitious. But what if the subtle differences between the descriptions and commands are in fact meant to teach us something specific?
After all, the Mishkan was first commanded before the people sinned with the Golden Calf. And then it is commanded again – but with changes! Could it be that the experience of the Golden Calf updated the design, function, and even the underlying meaning of the Mishkan?
Here are some of the differences:
Mishkan I has the people giving – but Mishkan II has us giving far in excess of what is needed. Might this be out of guilt for the Calf? Or perhaps a deeper zeal for investing in a communal project that is holy, instead of profane – suggesting that we learned our lesson?
Mishkan I introduces the incense altar well after the copper altar. But Mishkan II has the roles reversed! Might this be because the intangible qualities of the incense (scent, obstructed vision, connection with the divine through the ensouling nostrils) are seen as necessary preconditions for the practical matter of elevating an offering, connecting earth with heaven? Could this also be a divine “adjustment” based on the people sinning with the Calf?
Mishkan II commands us not to have fire in our homes on Shabbos. Could it be that G-d is trying to force the people to seek spiritual energy in the Mishkan instead of our own homes? That if we do not have fire in our homes, we search for G-d’s energy – and thus contribute to the making of the Mishkan? (Note that G-d’s fire descends at the end of the book, when the Mishkan is operational.)
The biggest difference might be the kiyor, or the laver, the washbasin that is used by the priests to wash themselves to prepare for the divine service.
In Mishkan I. Make a laver of copper and a stand of copper for it, for washing; and place it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar. Put water in it, and let Aaron and his sons wash their hands and feet [in water drawn] from it. When they enter the Tent of Meeting they shall wash with water… they shall wash their hands and feet, that they may not die. (E. 30:17)
Mishkan II, however, is quite different! It is not merely functional, washing away the outside world. Instead, the Laver of Mishkan II is made of the copper mirrors used by the women to attract their husbands!
Instead of a sterile cleaning sink, the kiyor/Laver of Mishkan II is an explicit connection to the power of marital love, and lesson of its potent emotional and spiritual power for priests who are preparing to connect with G-d.
Might this be a connection to the spiritual hungers of the people that was demonstrated with the Calf? Does G-d change the instructions to make the Mishkan better match man’s energies and desires?
Or perhaps we can understand it differently – that the women, who did not participate in the sin of the Calf, are an antidote to those who sinned – a positive lesson about what to keep in mind when going to serve in G-d’s House? That the priests should be inspired by the loyalty and steadfast devotion of the women?
Putting it all together: Is Mishkan II a symbolic transformation from Mishkan I? Might it take the original idea of G-d seeking to dwell among us, and add the people seeking to embrace and connect with G-d, to always have the connection that was the underlying desire that fueled the misbegotten Golden Calf? Might the twinned purposes explain why the text gives us both descriptions in full?