Musar к Шмот 25:8

Commandment 96 of the 613 commandments stipulates the building of a Temple as per Exodus 25,8: "They shall make for Me a Temple." The Tabernacle is also called "Temple," and the Temple is on occasion referred to as "Tabernacle."

Let me first quote some words of the saintly author of Shaarey Or on the subject of the Holy Temple. The following is a quotation from the first chapter of his book entitled Shechinah: After the erection of the Tabernacle the שכינה, manifestation of G–d's Presence, was visible at all times over the camp of the Israelites. We derive this from the verse: "They shall make a Temple for Me so that I may dwell in their midst" (25,8). You need to appreciate an important rule. G–d's principal residence was in our world when He first created the universe and man. Although the "upper" regions had been allocated to the creatures of those regions and the "lower" regions to the creatures of the terrestrial universe, because G–d had His principal residence on earth, He thereby provided the unification of heaven and earth, allowed for unimpeded communication and transfer to our world of sources of blessing from the inexhaustible pools of the upper regions. All this is alluded to in the verse: "And the heavens and the earth were completed together with all their hosts" (Genesis 2,1). This means that each part of the "lower" universe was also a part of the "higher" universe and thus contributed to the other's existence. The conduits supplying sources from one region to the other worked perfectly without hindrance. This is what the prophet referred to in Isaiah 66,1: "The heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool." G–d is perceived as halfway between the earth and heaven, or, between terrestrial and celestial beings.

We have stated that just as the Tabernacle serves to assure us of the Presence of G–d's שכינה in our midst, so man's physical stature is meant to be the receptacle for G–d's Presence within him. In order to attain this goal, he must strive to purify his entire body from head to toe. If he succeeds in doing this he will experience the fulfilment of ושכנתי בתוכם, "I shall dwell amongst them."