ייִדישער מחשבֿה אויף שמות 25:9

IT might be thought that the Hebrew words temunah and tabnit have one and the same meaning, but this is not the case. Tabnit, derived from the verb banah (he built), signifies the build and construction of a thing—that is to say, its figure, whether square, round, triangular, or of any other shape. Comp. “the pattern (tabnit) of the Tabernacle and the pattern (tabnit) of all its vessels” (Exod. 25:9); “according to the pattern (tabnit) which thou wast shown upon the mount” (Exod. 25:40); “the form of any bird” (Deut. 4:17); “the form (tabnit) of a hand” (Ezek. 8:3); “the pattern (tabnit) of the porch” (1 Chron. 28:11). In all these quotations it is the shape which is referred to. Therefore the Hebrew language never employs the word tabnit in speaking of the qualities of God Almighty.

“The Altar was made of wood.”¹Yechezkel 41:22. Here, the term “Altar” refers to the Table for the Showbread,²Although the verse describes the Table for the Showbread, it refers to it as “the Altar.” Rashi explains that, in this way, the verse teaches that in the present age, a person’s table – i.e., when he shows hospitality to guests – can bring atonement for him like the Altar (Menachos 97a). as the verse states later: “And he said to me, ‘This is the Table that is before God.’ ” “It was three cubits high.” Thus, the Table in the Batei HaMikdash was twice the height of the Table made in Moshe’s time.³See Shmos 25:23. In his responsa, Chasam Sofer (Yoreh Deah 236) asks: How is it possible that changes were made from the design of the vessels of the Sanctuary made by Moshe? Fashioning the vessels is a mitzvah and one of the cardinal principles of faith (see Rambam’s Thirteen Principles of Faith listed in his Commentary to the Mishnah, Introduction to Sanhedrin, ch. 10, principles 8-9) is that the Torah and its mitzvos will never change. True, the Beis HaMikdash was built according to prophetic vision, as reflected in our Sages’ interpretation (Zevachim 62a, Chulin 83b, et al.) of the verse (I Divrei HaYamim 28:19): “Everything is written down [transmitted] by the hand of God, according to the understanding granted.” Even so, a prophet is forbidden against deviating from the commands given to Moshe (Rambam, Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 9:1). Chasam Sofer resolves that question explaining that our Sages (Shevuous 15a) interpreted the words “and so you shall do” in the verse (Shmos 25:9), “According to the entire vision I will show you…, so shall you do,” as meaning “ ‘so shall you do’ in future generations.” That statement can be understood as teaching that in the future, you should also do “as I will show you,” i.e., God’s original command implies that visions will be shown to prophets in the future and they will build the Sanctuary and its vessels according to those visions. The Table was “two cubits long”; the narrative does not mention the Table’s width. In Moshe’s time, “its length was two cubits and its width, one cubit.”