4 And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying,

5 Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord; gold, and silver, and brass,

6 And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair,

7 And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood,

8 And oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil, and for the sweet incense,

9 And onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod, and for the breastplate.

We have had verses that show God reinstated instructions from the time Israel was led out of Egypt and from the time Moses first ascended Mount Sinai, and today we see instructions repeated from the second ascension also. Thus, every major period of lawgiving has been touched in these verses, which I believe is meant to represent that all of the commandments from all of these periods were re-established.

What we specifically see repeated today is the invitation for the Israelites to donate their precious materials for the building of the tabernacle. Once again, this is to be a voluntary offering, only from those who can afford it and are moved to do so, not a general requirement for all.

We, the readers, are already familiar with these instructions, but so far as we know this is the first time that the Israelites heard them, given that Moses previously broke the tablets when he saw their idolatry. I wonder how the Israelites felt, being asked to give gold for the crafting of the tabernacle, when they had just previously given gold to the creation of their shameful idol. Perhaps they saw this as an awkward reminder, or perhaps as an opportunity for redemption.