It would take many pages to begin depicting the construction of the holy Tabernacle. It is suffice to say that it was a creation of love that required super-human wisdom, not because of the tremendous intricacy of its design, but because of the profound secrets that underlay its structure. The materials, the names of the materials, the methods of craftsmanship and their respective names, were all orchestrated to resemble the very act of the creation of Heaven and earth. Indeed, even the women who spun the strings for the curtains and tapestries were required to comprehend how Binah received unformulated ideas from Chochma, spun them into six separate threads of thought and then combined them into one. They had to concentrate deeply on how the 49 gates of wisdom, the numerical value of the letters Mem Tes, produced Chessed and Din, symbolized by the letters Vav and Heh, to create the finished strings called Matveh, spelled Mem Tes Vav Heh.
And yet, with all the sanctity and exalted meditations invested in the construction of this dwelling place of Holiness on earth, when Shabbos came all work was completely prohibited. Melacha, creation, is not worthy of this holy day. The word Melacha corresponds to those holy Forces that reside only in Olam Ha'asiya, the lowest of the four realms of divinity that govern our world. Shabbos is beyond that realm, and any lowering of spirituality is true and everlasting death. In fact, the administration of the physical death penalty to those who desecrated the holy Shabbos was just a reflection of their true state: since their spirituality was dead, their spirit may just as well be removed from the body as well.
A fitting allegory to understand this point would be to imagine a woman who decided to surprise her husband by preparfor him a special dinner. She set the table and lit the room with soft candlelight, put on soft music and waited for him to come. When he arrived, he walked in, and, oblivious of her efforts, started talking to her about his day at work.
No matter how important our business is, there is a time and place for everything.
Adapted from Rabbi Vali's book on Shemos. Questions and subscriptions can be mailed to: the Yeshiva