Musar על יומא 112:1

The שכינה itself resides exclusively amongst Israel, and this is the reason the Torah says "They shall make a Temple for Me so that I may reside amongst them." The Torah is also on record as: "whom I have taken out of the land of Egypt in order to dwell amongst them" (Exodus 29,46), and the Torah says: "I shall place My residence amongst them" (Leviticus 26,11). This is the residence in which the Ineffable Name of G–d is at home. G–d said to the Jewish people: "Take My residence, the one which I dwell in, for yourselves, and I will never depart from you." Even though on occasion you are bound to become ritually defiled (the antithesis to sanctity) My Presence will not depart from you. This is the meaning of: "who dwells amongst them in the midst of their defilement" (Leviticus 16,16). When G–d gave Israel this gift, and His Presence resided amongst them, Israel became the recipient of all of G–d's bounty. G–d entrusted Israel with the keys to all His treasure-chambers so that they had access to and could receive every conceivable kind of blessing from the שכינה. This is the true meaning of the verse: ונתתי משכני בתוככם והתהלכתי בתוככם והייתי לכם לאלוקים, "I make My residence amongst you….and I walk amongst you and I shall be your G–d" (Leviticus 26, 11-12). This verse almost portrays the שכינה as similar to the pledge held by a creditor, as if G–d were Israel's debtor.

Our sages conveyed the same message when they explained that although the sacrifices on the Altar were consumed by Heavenly fire, yet the priests had to prepare the fire on the Altar on an ongoing basis. When man prepares the fire, G–d's fire will descend and consume the offerings, a sign of goodwill from G–d. The fire on earth "awakens" the Heavenly fire (Eyruvin 63). This is a rule which applied to everything in the Sanctuary with the exception of the Table and the Candlestick. The Candlestick with its seven lamps alludes to the ongoing existence of the universe which was created in seven days and alludes to the super-natural light that the universe was bathed in during those days and until Adam's sin. The Table teaches that G–d provides bread for all creatures, for His kindness is everlasting. The Table was not placed in the location which we would have expected in order to show that G–d neither needs our light nor our bread. What this means is that whereas in spiritual matters man must make the first move to come closer to G–d, G–d will make the first move when it comes to providing our physical needs such as food and light. We see that G–d continues to provide the universe and its creatures with its needs even though the Sanctuary is in ruins. We acknowledge this daily when we say grace after our meals. This is what the sages meant when they quoted G–d as saying: "I do not need the terrestrial Sanctuary either to enable light to be dispensed from Heaven or for food to be provided by My grace. If G–d nonetheless commanded the construction of a Candlestick and a Table, and commanded how they were to function, this was to attest that G–d's שכינה rested over Israel. It was an an assurance that even if there no longer were a Sanctuary this would not mean that G–d would withdraw His Presence, as we know from השוכן אתם בתוך טומאותם, "Who dwells amongst them in their state of defilement" (Lev. 16,16).