Why should the building of this one structure—with specific instructions about the length of the beams and all the different woods and ornaments—require such minute attention? It’s because the Israelites are not yet a people. They are an oppressed and disparate group of tribes and individuals. As Sacks puts it, “To turn a group of individuals into a covenantal nation, they must build something together.” A people is made by making, Sacks continues; a nation is built by building.
