1)Witnesses of the Lord
The opening pasuk of Pekudei refers to the Mishkan as Mishkan ha’eidus – literally ‘the Mishkan of testimony/witness. What exactly is the Mishkan testifying about? The peirush haRosh (38:21) answers that the Mishkan is testimony to the fact that HaShem forgave us for chet ha’egel. Moreover, the other nations of the world were claiming that the Shechinah would not camp within Klal Yisrael, so the Mishkan was testimony to the falseness of their claims. Alternatively, the Mishkan ‘testified’ against another claim made by several nations of the world. They claimed that Moshe requisitioned the 15,000 shekels of Mishkan donations for his own coffers. Thus, the Mishkan having been completed showed that the money was fully spent on the Mishkan (it was an expensive home!) and that HaShem was happy with Moshe’s efforts; for the Shechinah would not have come down had there been any corruption in the making of the Mishkan. Indeed, the first letters of the words hamelacha haysa dayam (36:7) have the gematria of 15, representing the fact that the 15,000 shekels were put to use in the Mishkan. Moreover, this number 15 also complements the fact that Moshe made up the 15 phrases of praise in the yishtabach prayer, the 15 in baruch she’amar, and the 15 Vavs in emes ve’yatziv.
2)Team supporters
The Chofetz Chaim points out that the donations of the shekalim went to supporting the Mishkan; they were made into the adanim which held up the Mishkan (38:26-27). Why were the shekalim used for this purpose? The Chofetz Chaim answers that this was in order that the Bnei Yisrael should realise that the Mishkan was a communal effort for the benefit of the entire nation – the shekalim were donated by everyone, and they held up the Mishkan.
