@@@@@@
An Inside Job
Moshe put the Mizbeach outside the Mishkan and brought upon it a Korban. Then he put the curtains around the Courtyard. The plain reading is this sequence; first he brought the Korban, then he enclosed the courtyard.
With no curtain, the courtyard is part of the Machane Leviya, the Levite camp, not part of the Mishkan. Moshe technically sacrificed a Korban outside the Mishkan, normally forbidden.
The Malbim explains that it was allowed because as the Mizbeach and courtyard were yet un-dedicated, sacrifice was allowed anywhere one pleased, as a Bamah.
But then of what significance was this sacrifice?
The Mishkan courtyard was the Mizbeach enclosure. It was not simply an empty ground. It needed a live Mizbeach to give it definition. So the Mizbeach needed to be sanctified prior to setting the courtyard.
How? Its very usage consecrated it. (Rashi). It was sacrificed on, making it a Mizbeach. The curtains enclosing it afterward were hallowed because they encircled a Mizbeach.
***
@@@@@@
Clouding The Issue
At the very end of the sidra the Torah dramatically recounts how Moshe set up the Mishkan and Hashem’s cloud of Glory filled it. It was no longer possible to enter.
Then the pasuk tells us that Hashem’s Glory, – the pillar of cloud – signalled the Jews when to travel and when to stay put.
Does this have to do with the Mishkan events?
The Clouds were present from the beginning. When the Jews left Egypt, the clouds led them. But the clouds left when the Jews camped. They were not needed.
Hashem no longer merely stepped in to lead His People when needed, rather He was now moving in amongst them, 24×7.
This cloud – the very cloud that previously led them, came now to fill the Mishkan. It represented His Presence. The message here is that this was the very same cloud; it was the one to lead them when they broke camp.
It told the Jews they hosted Hashem Himself – not merely a representation. And thats why it left the Mishkan when it took to leading them.
They hosted Him, and He led them.
***
@@@@@@
A Try And A Prayer
When the Jews brought the finished Mishkan to Moshe, he admired how perfectly they had made it – exactly as Hashem specified – and blessed them. Rashi records the blessing ‘May Hashem rest on your handiwork!’
The doctor said ‘The operation was an unquestioned success. Unfortunately, however, the patient did not make it’
The scientist scratched his head, perplexed. All the parts were right. Yet the new car did not run.
Two brothers open ice-cream parlors next to one another. One becomes a millionaire, the other goes bust.
What’s the secret sauce? What determines success or failure?
Shchina, Providence.
Moshe was giving them the ultimate brachah: may the Mishkan do it ultimate purpose. May Shchina rest here.
We don’t have Moshe’s bracha. We do our hishtadlus – our business acts, and may or may not be successful. So what we need is Tfilla. Do your very best and hand it over to Him: pray for success.
***
@@@@@@
Always Service
The Meil had bells and pomegranates on its bottom. In our parshah the Torah comments about these ‘for service’. (In tetzave the pasuk also uses those words, 28:35, but is unclear if it refers to the trimmings or the wearing of the Meil itself). This is in fact the only things worn for service specified so in the entire Torah!
What about it is so significant??
We suggested that the clothes of the Kohen Gadol were gorgeous and impressive. They could be to dignify him, for he was a high and mighty person, or to dignify his service, because he was performing before Hashem. It’s unclear what their purpose was.
Only one thing gave it away; the bells he wore served only to dignify the service – that he not walk in unannounced. They served him in no way at all. The bells determined the nature of his entire wardrobe: it was work clothing, luxurious because his work was so significant. But they were not to dignify his own person.
That’s why the bells were specified; ‘To Serve!’