After detailed instructions on how to build the Mishkan and an accounting of the completed garments and parts of the Mishkan, Moshe is finally ready to put it all together. The passuk (verse) tells us that the Mishkan was set up on the first day of the first month in the second year (40:17). The very next passuk reiterates that Moshe indeed assembled the Mishkan, and subsequent pessukim (verses) detail exactly what Moshe did. Why do we need to be told three times in a span of eleven pessukim (two in summary and one in detail) that the Mishkan was assembled?
Rabbis Scherman/Slotowitz (Artscroll) suggest that the process of designing, crafting, and assembling the Mishkan culminated in the most singular event in human history: The glory of G-d rested among people, in full view of all. This extraordinary tabernacle was built with the people’s gifts and their hands, directed by their prophets, and made possible by their repentance. This recipe of care, effort, and thoughtfulness warranted repeated affirmations that our Mishkan was at last complete. When we pour our hearts and souls into something we value and succeed, we deserve to feel proud, and G-d is just as proud of us.
