Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.
Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering, х tªruwmaah (H8641)] - an oblation, a votive offering.
Of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ... take х kaal (H3605) 'iysh (H376) 'ªsher (H834) yidbenuw (H5068) libow (H3820)] - whomsoever his heart prompts or urges. The Israelites, having declared allegiance to God as their sovereign, were bound by their covenant engagements to contribute to His state, as other subjects to the revenue of their kings; and the "offering" required of them was not to be imposed as a tax, but to come from their own loyal and liberal feelings.
A glance at the specified subjects of which the required offering should consist shows that it was to comprise materials of a costly as well as of a rare description in metals, manufactures, and articles of foreign merchandise; and the inquiry is naturally suggested, Whence were these to be obtained?-how could contributions of such a sort be expected or made by a body of slaves, recently emancipated from the grinding tyranny of their masters, and now encamped in the recesses of a remote mountain solitude?
In explanation it must be borne in mind that the condition of the Israelites was very different from that of their nomadic neighbours in the desert. They had been born and bred in the most highly civilized country in the world. Large stores of the precious metals, in articles of personal ornament and domestic use or luxury, were heaped upon them at their departure from Egypt, and had been acquired as booty from the carcasses of their drowned pursuers drifted on the eastern shores of the Red Sea; so that they possessed a great accumulation of wealth, and could well spare, out of their superfluous abundance, a portion for sacred purposes. Wood of the kind described abounded in all the neighbourhood of Sinai, and they were in circumstances to negotiate with the indigenous tribes of the desert for the purchase of what timber was needed. The coarse and heavy materials necessary in the construction of the contemplated edifice could be obtained from the mining colonies at Surabit el Khadim, or Jebel Nasb, both of which were only about two days' journey from the encampment. And as to the skips and spices, these could be purchased from the commercial caravans which, trafficking in Indian produce, traveled by various routes through the desert to the markets of Arabia and Egypt.
Moreover, as numbers of the Israelites had been slaves engaged in the workshops of Egyptian artisans, where they were instructed in various branches of the useful and fine arts, they could contribute in labour, if they could not in kind, by enlisting their skill and experience in the work of the tabernacle. The employment of so much talent and of so many resources must, as a matter of prudential economy, have engaged the attention of a wise and judicious ruler; and doubtless Moses, had it depended on him, would have devised a way for directing into various channels for the common good the energies of the mighty multitude under his charge.
But it was not left to the political wisdom of the human leader to employ them as he thought proper. He who had chosen Israel for the high purpose of preserving the knowledge and worship of the true God in the world, was about to engage them in a work directly subservient to the end for which, as a nation, they had been set apart; and as this work was to combine two objects-that of serving as a bond of national unity, as well as of inculcating by visible symbols the grand fundamental principles of revealed religion-He, the Divine Architect, was to preside over its erection, not only by exhibiting a model of the fabric to Moses on the mount, but by an oral description of the plan, with specifications, instructing him even to the minutest details of the structure and its furniture. Such careful and particular directions were essentially necessary to preserve the uniformity of its typical character throughout.
Moreover, as it was of the highest importance that the people should be fellow-workers with God in this sacred undertaking, they were invited, out of their own means, and with their own hands, to further the work of the Lord among them; and the appeal made to them at a time when their minds were so strongly impressed by the most awful displays of the divine presence and majesty, as well as with the marvelous tokens of His distinguishing favour toward them, found an immediate response in the breasts of multitudes, who showed themselves ready and zealous in volunteering their property or their services.