The Mekhilta draws a sharp contrast between a human artisan and the divine Creator. When a mortal sculptor sets out to make a figure, he must build it piece by piece — starting from the head or from one of the limbs, then slowly assembling the rest. The process is sequential, laborious, and imperfect. One part is completed before the next is even begun.
But the Holy One Blessed be He does not work this way. God "forms all as one." (Jeremiah 10:16) declares: "For He is the former of all" — not the former of parts, not the assembler of pieces, but the shaper of the entire whole in a single act. Every organ, every limb, every detail comes into being simultaneously. There is no first step and last step. There is only completion.
The Mekhilta then delivers a brilliant wordplay from (1 Samuel 2:2): "There is no rock (tzur) like our God." The Hebrew word "tzur" (rock) is read as "tzayar" (artist). "There is no artist like our God." Hannah's prayer of thanksgiving becomes a statement about divine craftsmanship — God is the supreme artist whose technique is beyond imitation.
This teaching from the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael (Tractate Shirah 8:18) celebrates God as the master of simultaneous creation. Human artists work in sequence. God works in totality. The gap between the two is not one of degree but of kind — and no mortal hand will ever close it.