The Temple is not for the Creator, but for us. The purpose of the commandment to build a Temple and to bring offerings is for us to give, to the extent that we are able, our best possessions to God.

People may wonder what the Creator has to do with the Tabernacle, curtain, lamps, and other such items. Logically, God does not require anything; rather, all creatures need Him. But the intention is that His servants will hand over to Him the best of their possessions: meat, wine, oil, incense, wheat, and other pleasant items. They will bring a little of these things, as much as they can, and He will reward them exceedingly, as much as He can…. He will reward them by granting them prophecy from that place…. Likewise, it will be the place through which He answers the prayers of the nation when any trouble befalls them. (Rav Se’adya Gaon, Emunot VeDe’ot 3:10)

Further reading: For more on the Tabernacle and the Temple, see A Concise Guide to the Torah, pp. 196, 242, 464; A Concise Guide to the Sages, pp. 114, 320.

The Tabernacle and the Temple are where God dwells with us. The philosophical position that God does not oversee what happens in this world, and does not know what happens in it, can easily mislead those who are unlearned. In fact, God, in His kindness, behaves toward us in a manner contrary to that philosophy, dwelling in a specific place, in a tangible way.

The philosophers removed from God the knowledge of what happens in the world and awareness of our actions. Their statements became a stumbling block for the unlearned. Due to the kindness God has for His people, he acts toward them like a doctor who oversees the health of his patient, and He imposes certain actions upon Himself, like a pious and merciful king who sits among his people, in a tent or dwelling, and rejoices with them. (Rav Yitzĥak Arama, Akedat Yitzĥak, Exodus 25:2)

The site of the Temple is the point of connection between this world and the divine abundance that comes from above. When they are worthy, righteous people possess the power to make this world, and their own souls, into a place where God can be present.

The earthly Temple corresponds to the heavenly Temple:

“They shall make for Me a sanctuary” (Exodus 25:8), for that is the gateway to heaven, from which divine abundance is brought down to illuminate the earth. Since the time of Creation, the Shekhina has rested in that place. Therefore, the Sages said, “If a person enters the earthly Temple and brings offerings in it, the Holy One, blessed be He, considers them as having entered and brought sacrifices in the heavenly Temple,” for it is as though the heavenly Temple and the earthly one stand together.

God dwells in the souls of the Jewish people when they are worthy:

The Tabernacle was erected by Moses, who brought the Shekhina down to earth in his merit…. For saintly people have the power to make a spiritual, holy dwelling place in the lower realm, to the point that they become worthy of “And I will dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8), meaning a tangible [presence] and not only a dissemination of heavenly spirituality. The presence of the Shekhina is not within the wood or stone [of the Temple], but rather, “among them,” if their deeds are worthy of this…God dwells principally in the souls of the righteous, and not in wood and stone. (Alsheikh, Exodus 25:8)

Further reading: For more on the presence of the Shekhina in this world due to saintly people, see A Concise Guide to the Sages, p. 179.