Why God Left Heaven to Dwell in the Tent of Goats' Hair

"I have loved you, says the Lord" (Malachi 1:2). See how He cherished you. From the earth to the firmament is a journey of five hundred years, and likewise from the first firmament to the second, and from the second to the third, and from the third to the fourth, and from the fourth to the fifth, and from the fifth to the sixth, and from the sixth to the seventh. And there is no need to reckon from the hooves of the living creatures, and the Throne is above them all. See how I cherished you, that I left them all and said to you: Make for Me curtains of goats' hair, and I will come to dwell beside you. Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said: If the nations of the world had known how good the Tabernacle was for them, they would have surrounded it with tents and fortifications. Why? Before the Tabernacle was set up, the divine word would go out and enter into the tents of the nations of the world, and they were stricken with terror, as it is said, "For who is there of all flesh that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?" (Deuteronomy 5:23). You would hear and live, but the nations of the world would hear and be stricken with terror within their tents. And do not say this only of the Tabernacle, but even the Temple was good for them. From where? From this, that Solomon arranged it in his prayer: "Moreover, concerning the stranger who is not of Your people Israel" etc. (1 Kings 8:41), "may You hear in heaven" etc. (1 Kings 8:43). But when Israel came to pray, what does he say? "And render to each man according to all his ways, whose heart You know" etc. (1 Kings 8:39). But the foreigner, whether they do or do not do, give him all that he requests, "in order that all the peoples of the earth may know" etc. (1 Kings 8:43). Therefore the Temple was good for the nations of the world. Rabbi Samuel bar Nahman said: Before the Temple was built, the world stood upon a throne of two legs, but once the Temple was built, the world was made firm and stood upon its base. And do not say this only of the Temple; even the Tabernacle was good for the nations of the world. Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Make Me a Tabernacle, for I desire to dwell beside My children. When the ministering angels heard this, they said before Him: Master of the Universe, why do You leave the upper beings and descend to the lower beings? It is Your praise that You be in the heavens, "who has set Your majesty above the heavens" (Psalms 8:2). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: By your lives, I am doing just as you said. Habakkuk the prophet said, "God comes from Teman" (Habakkuk 3:3), and afterward, "and His praise fills the earth" (ibid.). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: And why are you amazed at this? See how I cherish the lower beings, that I descend and dwell beneath curtains of goats' hair, as it is said, "And you shall make curtains of goats' hair" (Exodus 26:7).