In Exodus 36, the construction of the tabernacle commences. Two things stand out in this chapter. Firstly, that there were skilled craftsmen to do the work. There wouldn’t have been much call for this skill in Egypt, making bricks, yet we read “Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsmen in whom the Lord has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction”. God gave these craftsmen the ability to do the work required, just as He also provides us the skill to work as one body in the ecclesia.
Secondly, the children of Israel answered the call in Exodus 35 for a contribution to such an extent that Moses had to ask them to stop. They had brought so much stuff with them out of Egypt and carried it around in the wilderness to this point, that they had more than enough to build the tabernacle. I don’t know what the Israelites would have thought when they were dragging this stuff through the desert, but we see God’s hand at work in providing for a future need.
So in the middle of a chapter that describes in painstaking detail the construction of the tabernacle, we find clear evidence of God working in the lives of the Israelites. If we look closely we can see God working in our lives too, preparing and providing for future needs.