R. Hoshaya Rabbah commenced his midrashic interpretation: "I was with Him as an amon "(Proverbs 8:30) …
[Read] oman, an artisan.
The Torah declares: I was the instrument used by the Holy One, blessed be He, to practice his craft.
It is customary that when a king of flesh and blood builds a palace, he does not build it on his own cognizance; rather, he solicits the input of an architect (oman). The architect, too, does not build it solely on his own for he consults plans and blueprints, so that he may learn how to place the rooms and how to arrange the doors.
So, too, the Holy One, blessed be He, looked in the Torah and created the world. (Genesis Rabbah 1:1)

The notion of constructing a sanctuary, a mishkan , seems to be contained within the blueprint inscribed in the Torah, for "He looked in the Torah and created the world". So it is hard to understand why Moses had such great difficulty constructing it. Why did he need a fiery vision to guide him?

As G-d's covenantal partner, by rights the nation of Israel should have participated in the construction of the world. HaKadosh Baruch Hu mercifully allowed the Israelites to fulfill this task symbolically by participating in the construction of the Mishkan , a task mirroring the creation of the world, "their blueprints which are being shown to you on the mountain"(Ex 25:40). However, even in order to accomplish this task Moses required unmediated, Divine instruction, a fiery vision.

Man's Heart (the Self ) Contains the Wisdom of G-d

Why did Moses require this explicit vision? Because the Mishkan was intended to be the dwelling place of G-d, as the verse relates "And let them make me a sanctuary"(Ex 25:8), so Moses was afraid of erring. However, when HaKadosh Baruch Hu added the explanation "so that I may dwell among them" (Ex 25:8) Moses was relieved, for he understood that G-d had not departed from his original plan; "the Merciful One desires [the actions stemming from the] heart," for the Torah is to be found within it, there in the interior space of man created in the image of G-d. G-d entrusted the matter of building the Mishkan to the heart, so there was no need for detailed, divine guidelines, man could rely upon the wisdom found in his heart.

This notwithstanding, we must still address this parsha's fundamental question: What elicited HaKadosh Baruch Hu's desire to dwell in the lower realm within a structure twenty planks long etc.? On the one hand, His glory fills the world, and, on the other, his presence is found in every place. Regarding this matter, see our description of divine worship as taking place upon an axis having at one pole "focusing upon the Divine" and at the other "flowing with the current of nature". [This discussion has not yet been translated. In the meantime, see the Hebrew text on Parshat Beshallach 5759 entitled "Focusing Upon Reality or Focusing Upon the Creator", pp.65-66] Man must not fix his gaze upon this world, but rather he must direct it at the supernal divine source, as the verses tell us: "G-d is one"(Deut 6:4); "I am ever mindful of G-d's presence"(Psalms 16:8), "in all your ways, acknowledge Him"(Proverbs 3:6). At the same time, in relating to the world man must integrate into the natural current comprised of the natural developments and generative processes.

Awe, Focusing Upon the Upper Realm; Leaving Life in the Hands of the Calf

Following the sin of the golden calf, the balance between focusing one's gaze upon the Divine and integrating into the dynamic natural flow of this world required redress. For this sin directly resulted from the Israelite's absorption in supernal axioms, and, consequent neglect of what was going on in the world. Having lost control of what was taking place in the lower realm, they ultimately allowed the forces of matter to exploit their inattention, to introduce the golden calf into the domain of the holy. Due to their lack of concentration they erred and declared, "Israel, this is your god," reaching the point where they could not differentiate between cursing and blessing.

Perhaps this is the crucial difference between Israel's acceptance of the Torah on Purim and its acceptance at Mount Sinai. On Purim the Israelite's accepted the Torah out of love, while at Mount Sinai they accepted out of awe. Acceptance out of love endows the recipient with the energy to concentrate and focus upon the details, so that he can also rule over the World of Production. In contrast, acceptance out of awe diverts the recipient's attention from focusing upon the details, for he is consumed by awe and, hence, forced to focus upon the supreme authority. Focusing upon the source of all power, he lets his attention drift from the consequences of G-d's rule over Creation upon the World of Production .

This insight leads us to understand that the sin of the golden calf was not related to idol worship; in fact, the opposite is true. The sin resulted from the Israelites being overly- focused upon, cleaving too absolutely to, the divine source, leading them to neglect the World of Production leaving it in the hands of the material forces of nature. These forces exploited the Israelites' absence by introducing the calf, as the verse relates, "and out came this calf"(Ex 32:24). The Israelites did not, Heaven forbid, create the calf; rather, it came into being by itself shaped by the dark powers of the material world.

The Mishkan is intended to atone for the golden calf, to rectify the Israelites' uni- dimensional focus upon the supernal realms. The Israelites were commanded to focus upon the earthly Temple, not, Heaven forbid, upon the forces of nature, but rather upon the inner basis for man's physical needs, upon the spiritual basis for those material aspects unique to man alone. To gaze upon the table, the menorah, and the garments, not, Heaven forbid, in order to become enslaved to them, but, rather to focus upon them as elements belonging to the sanctuary which solely by force of the covenant are jointly administered by the Israelites and their Creator, may He be blessed. These articles, typically used to satisfy human needs, become through the mutually reciprocal identification between G-d and man holy vessels. Thus, the point on the axis where man gazed fixedly upon G-d will now appear at both ends of the axis eliminating the separation and distinction between gazing fixedly upon the Divine and dynamic fluidity.

From this point in history and on, both a mishkan in the supernal realms and its parallel in the lower realm will come into being. When the Temple and the Mishkan exist a union between the antithetical elements of spirit and matter is created; the matter endows tangibility to the spirit, and the spirit grants meaning to the matter. The conflict which forced man to split himself in two -- on the one hand, focusing upon the Lord, and, on the other, integrating into the dynamic flow of nature -- is obviated. From this point and on, as long as he continues to worship Hashem, man will travel on a circular, cybernetic track where he moves between integrating into the current of nature and focusing upon G-d, back and forth in a set and never-ending pattern. At the moment man departs from his divine existence and enters a material one as an object of the survival mechanism, the split dividing him in two and tearing his very existence into pieces -- which given their very antithetical nature then destroy each other -- begins.

"Every person, whose heart so moves him"(Ex 25:2) – Love

And this will be the course taken by "every person whose heart so moves him"(Ex 25:2). Divine worship stemming from the internal quality of the Self, brings to realization the phrase "the Merciful One desires [the actions stemming from man's] heart". Hashem wants man to employ the qualities within himself so that in using them man and G-d may connect. And this it should be emphasized, not via the stratum of Doing, a mode external to man's inner self, a technical level, which engenders no unity, only differentiation. The Mishkan expressed man's focus upon production in the context of the manifestation of his Being , of his internal quality. Of his love.

The Mishnah and Gemara in Pesahim 114 relate:

Mishnah:
They poured him the first cup.
Beit Shammai declares: [First] he recites the blessing for the day and then he recites the blessing upon the wine.
While Beit Hillel declares: [First] he recites the blessing upon the wine and then he recites a blessing for the day.

Gemara:
Beit Shammai … because the day is responsible for the presence of the wine. The day has already become sanctified, while the wine has not yet come.
But, Beit Hillel … because the wine enables the kiddush to be recited. And the halakha follows the ruling of Beit Hillel.