Exodus 31.1-18

Bezalel and Oholiab / The Sabbath Law / The Two Tablets of the Covenant

And just who is to make the tabernacle and all the objects and finery within it? God appoints two people.

Bezalel and Oholiab: Exodus 31.1-11

God tells Moses that God has found a master craftsman, named Bezalel, son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:

I have filled him with divine spirit, with ability, intelligence, and knowledge in every kind of craft, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, in every kind of craft.
(Ex. 31.3-5)

God appoints Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, alongside Bezalel. God has also given skill to all the skillful so that they can create everything the tabernacle requires, from the mercy seat to the basin to the anointing oil.

Bezalel gets a significantly greater amount of face time (or, if you prefer, "words") than Oholiab, who serves along side him. The author clearly favored Judah, and might have been writing in the Kingdom of Judah. Israel, until the time of King David, was divided between North (The Kingdom of Israel) and South (The Kingdom of Judah). David united the two into the United Monarchy, when all of Israel was one kingdom (the process had been started by his predecessor, Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin). David was from the tribe of Judah, which gives the tribe a great importance in the biblical history of the Israelites.

After Solomon, the kingdoms split again into Israel and Judah. If the author lived in Judah, there would have been a partisanship for the tribe - and anyone of Judah and a relative of David would be considered greater in the author's eyes. It's all about who you're rooting for.

The Sabbath Law: Exodus 31.12-17

The Lord tells Moses that Moses is to tell the Israelites to keep the sabbath, which is a sign that the people may know that the Lord sanctifies them - a perpetual covenant. The Sabbath is holy for Israelites. Anyone who profanes it should be put to death, and anyone who works on it should be cut off form the people.

The sacrifice ritual recreates the act of human eating on a divine scale. Conversely, the sabbath recreates God's divine rest after creation on a human scale. In both cases, the divine and the mundane parallel one another, so that what occurs in heaven also occurs on earth, and what occurs on earth also occurs in heaven.

The Two Tablets of the Covenant: Exodus 31.18

God gives Moses the two tablets of the covenant when God has finished speaking with Moses. These stone tablets are "written in the finger of God" (Ex. 31.18).