Building the tabernacle - Exodus 26

I am reading about the building of the tabernacle in Exodus 26. Again I marvel at the detail God went into. It is very detailed with lots of term I do not really understand. I can get some of the proportions but only vaguely. I see that God expected only the best materials to be used in his house. There is acacia wood and gold. There is goat's thread and porpoise skin. Only the best will do. (How do desert dwellers get porpoise skin?) The colors are bright and bold - blue, purple, scarlet, and red.

God calls upon skillful craftsmen to do the work. These people were only recently slaves. We are told their job was to make bricks and build monumental buildings and tombs. So who were these craftsmen? I wonder if they were using gifts God gave them especially for this occasion. Were they self taught? But I guess any large community like the Israeli slaves would still have need for these kinds of skills. Even slaves love beauty and well built houses.

God goes into great details on the dimensions and how everything is connected together so that it will be strong. My translation uses terms like loops, tenons, rings, sockets. There is great organization. It is well built. I do not understand these terms at all, really. I am not a skilled craftsman.

26:30 mentions a plan God gave Moses earlier for this tabernacle - tent of meeting. Good a picture, a diagram, something like a blueprint. These is some kind of visual to go on. All this description would not be sufficient for me. God spares no effort to reveal his plan for this building.

Likewise God wants to reveal himself to us. This will be God's dwelling place with his people. This tent will show God's grandeur. He is a great God who deigns to be the leader of a lowly people. But God has plans for them, detailed plans. They will be a great nation. if they will be his people, he will be their God.

So it is with us. God wants to be our God if we want to be his servant.