Exodus 25:1 says, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Then verse two states, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.  God instructed Moses to collect an offer to God from the people and that Moses was to accept the offering from everyman who gave willingly from his heart.  When we give offerings, or even pay our tithes today, it should be done willingly from the heart.  Verse three states, And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass,  Verse four adds, And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair,  Verse five continues, And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood,  Verse six still continues, Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense,  Verse seven concludes, Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate.  God had richly blessed the people of Israel when they left Egypt, and now He was asking that show their gratitude to Him by returning some of the best of the things that He had blessed them with to Him.  These things would be used to do God's work and to show His glory to the rest of the world.  Today, God has so richly blessed us by giving us salvation through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, and we should willingly give to Him anything He asks of us so that His work may be done and that He may be glorified.  When we give an offering to God, it should be the best that we have to give.  Verse eight says, And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.  Moses was told that the people of Israel were to build a sanctuary for God, that He might live among them.  Today, the sanctuary that God lives in is not a church building, but the heart of each follower of Christ.  Through the Holy Spirit, God constantly dwells with us.  Verse nine states, According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.  God told Moses that He would give him the specifications for the sanctuary.  When we build a physical sanctuary for God today, we need to ensure that we are building according to His plans.  We cannot allow a physical sanctuary to become more important than spreading the gospel.  Verse ten declares, And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.  God said they were to make an ark, then He specified the dimensions.  Verse eleven adds, And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.  God said the wood was to be overlaid with gold. in side and out.  Verse twelve continues, And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it.  These rings were to be used when transporting the sanctuary, because unlike altars which were fixed in place, the sanctuary was ro move with the people of Israel.  Today, the church building is a fixed place, but the body of the believer is the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, so He goes with us wherever we go.  Verse thirteen says, And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. Then verse fourteen adds, And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them.  The people of Israel were to make gold overlaid staves to carry the ark.  Verse fifteen adds, The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it.  The staves were to always remain in the rings of the ark so that it would always be ready to transport.  As followers of Christ, the Holy Spirit indwells us, so wherever we go, God with us.  Verse sixteen concludes, And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.  The ark was to be used to transport the testimony, which God would give to Moses to share with the people.  God today gives us the testimony to share with our fellow believers, but more importantly with the lost people of the world.