See note Exo. 20:10¹.

When we work for God without enjoying Him and being one with Him, the result is spiritual death and the loss of the fellowship in the Body.

The Sabbath is mentioned again here (cf. Exo. 20:8-11), in relation to the work of building God’s dwelling place, signifying that as God’s people work with Him and for Him, they must learn to rest with Him by enjoying Him and being filled with Him. Keeping the Sabbath is a sign (v. 17) that God’s people work for God not by their own strength but by enjoying Him and being one with Him. It is also an eternal covenant (v. 16) assuring God that we will be one with Him by first enjoying Him and then working with Him, for Him, and in oneness with Him. God first worked and then rested; man first rests and then works (Gen. 2:2 and note Gen. 2:2^1b). The mentioning of the Sabbath here indicates also that everything related to the tabernacle and its furniture leads us to God’s Sabbath, with its rest and refreshment in the enjoyment of what God has purposed and done.

Bezalel was of the tribe of Judah (v. 2), the kingly tribe (Gen. 49:10), the tribe of the Lord Jesus (Heb. 7:14), and Oholiab was of the tribe of Dan (v. 6), a lowly tribe (Gen. 49:17). The same principle is seen in the building of the temple under Solomon, who was of the tribe of Judah, and Huram-abi, whose mother was a Danite woman (2 Chron. 2:11-14). This indicates that the work of building God’s dwelling place must be done by all God’s people, including those of high estate and those of low estate (Eph. 4:11-16).

Oholiab was Bezalel’s co-master builder. His name means the tent or tabernacle of my father. Ahisamach, the name of Oholiab’s father, means a brother of strength or support. These two names signify that Oholiab was a man for God’s tabernacle with strength and support.

To cut stones for setting is to help the saints to be transformed into stones and to be adjusted to fit into God’s building; to carve wood is to work on the humanity of the saints for the sake of God’s building; and to work in all kinds of workmanship is to produce finer virtues in human character with the uplifted humanity of Christ, which are needed for the building up of the church as God’s dwelling place (cf. Eph. 4:2 and note Eph. 4:2^1a).

To build up the church all the believers must know how to use the divine nature as the gold, the redemption of Christ as the silver, and God’s righteous judgment as the bronze (cf. 1 Cor. 3:12) as the “materials” for their work.

The building up of God’s dwelling place, the church, is a noble work to be done by all God’s people (1 Cor. 3:10; Eph. 4:12, 16). However, the wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and skill for this work must be God Himself as the Spirit to us (cf. Col. 1:28-29). Only the Spirit of God can build His own dwelling place through us.

Bezalel was a master builder, a leader in God’s building. His name means in the shadow of God, indicating that as a master builder, Bezalel was a man under the shadow of God’s grace (cf. 1 Cor. 3:10a; 2 Cor. 12:9). Uri, the name of Bezalel’s father, means light of Jehovah, and Hur, the name of Bezalel’s grandfather, means free, noble, white (signifying clean and pure). These three names indicate what kind of persons the builders of God’s dwelling place should be.

The law and its ordinances were decreed by God in 20:1—23:19. Then, in Exo. 24:12 God called Moses up to the top of the mountain to give him the tablets of the law, the testimony (see note Exo. 20:1¹). However, before giving Moses the tablets, God first gave him the design of the tabernacle and instructions concerning the priesthood (25:1—31:17). This indicates that although God was giving the law, He knew that man could not keep it; therefore, He prepared the tabernacle, the offerings, and all the aspects of the priesthood — the reality and fulfillment of which is Christ — as the way of grace for His fallen and sinful people to contact Him and enjoy Him (cf. Heb. 9:1-28; 10:1-22). Although God was giving the law, He did not have any trust in the law. His trust was, and still is, absolutely in Christ as the way of grace for His people. See note Exo. 25:1¹.