Who would have imagined that the construction of a sacred meeting place, let alone the fashioning of a single piece of sacred furniture, would generate a charged debate over the very nature of God?

And they shall make for Me a Mishkan (Tabernacle), that I might abide in their midst. (Exodus 25:8)

And they shall make an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. (ibid., v. 10)

The very modesty of the Mishkan and its central accoutrement, the Ark of the Covenant, raised throughout the generations, profound questions regarding God’s omnipresence on the one hand and divine intimacy on the other. This discussion appears already among the prophets, yet it did not end there. It remained a persistent and pressing issue throughout rabbinic literature and continues into our own day.

The following midrash employs a verse from the book of Job as the starting point for an imagined debate within Moshe’s own mind:

“The Almighty, we cannot find Him; He is exalted in power” (Job 37:23).

At first glance, this verse suggests that God’s very nature transcends earthly categories and could never be contained........

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