Shabbos completes the week's labor

ורש"י פי' אך למעט שבת ממלאכת המשכן.

And Rashi explained: "ach" (but/only) comes to exclude Shabbos from the work of the Mishkan.

On the words "ach es Shabsosai tishmoru" (Shemos 31:13), Rashi teaches that the building of the Mishkan does not override Shabbos.

והרמב"ן הקשה.

And the Ramban raised a difficulty [on Rashi].

The Ramban objected to Rashi's reading; the Sefas Emes will not resolve the dispute itself but use the verse for a deeper point.

וכבר כ' במ"א.

And I have already written about this elsewhere.

The Sefas Emes notes he has addressed the technical difficulty in another place.

והענין הוא דכתיב ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי זה עצמו כמו ימי המעשה שהם הכנה לשבת כמ"ש ושכנתי בתוכם ככל אשר כו' מראה אותך.

And the matter is: it is written, "And they shall make for Me a Mikdash, and I will dwell" (Shemos 25:8) — this itself is like the weekdays (yemei hama'aseh), which are a preparation for Shabbos, as it says, "And I will dwell among them, according to all that … I show you" (Shemos 25:8–9).

The labor of building the Mishkan parallels the workdays of the week: just as the weekdays exist to prepare for Shabbos, the building of the Mishkan exists to bring about the indwelling of Hashem.

וזו המדריגה אשר אני מראה אותך מתגלה בש"ק בחי' מרע"ה.

And this level — "that I show you" — is revealed on the holy Shabbos, the aspect of Moshe Rabbeinu.

The supernal "showing" that Moshe received is fully revealed specifically on Shabbos, which carries the aspect of Moshe Rabbeinu.

א"כ הוא למעלה ממלאכת המשכן.

If so, it (Shabbos) is above the work of the Mishkan.

Since Shabbos is the goal that the Mishkan's construction serves, Shabbos stands higher than the melachah itself.

גם דייק רש"י לומר ממלאכת המשכן כי שבת נק' שלום ואין בו חסרון וכמ"ש כאלו כל מלאכתך עשוי' שלא תהרהר אחר מלאכה.

Rashi also was precise to say "from the work of the Mishkan," for Shabbos is called shalom and has no deficiency in it, as it says: as if all your work is done, that you should not give thought to work.

Rashi specifically says Shabbos is excluded from the Mishkan's melachah because Shabbos is "shalom" — complete and lacking nothing; on it one regards all labor as already finished and dismisses thoughts of work.

ובאמת השבת משלים המלאכה.

And in truth, Shabbos completes the work.

Far from interrupting the labor, Shabbos is what brings the week's work to its true completion.

וכמו כן בכל פרט איש ישראל כפי כח שמירת שבת שבו שמשליך כל מחשבת מלאכת חול בביאת הש"ק.

And so too in every individual Yisrael, according to the strength of his Shabbos observance, in which he casts away all thought of weekday labor with the arrival of the holy Shabbos.

Each person, to the degree he keeps Shabbos and releases all weekday concerns, draws this completing power into himself.

כמו כן נשלם אצלו ג"כ עבודת הבורא ית"ש.

So too is the avodah of the Creator, may He be blessed, completed for him as well.

To that same degree, his service of Hashem throughout the week is brought to completion through Shabbos.

הגם שהוא חסר השלימות.

Even though he is lacking in completeness.

A person's weekday avodah is inevitably imperfect and unfinished.

השבת נותן לו שלימות.

Shabbos gives him completeness.

The wholeness of Shabbos supplies what his own avodah lacked, perfecting it.

ולכן הגם שהיו זריזין במלאכת המשכן.

Therefore, even though they were diligent in the work of the Mishkan.

Bnei Yisrael labored zealously to build the Mishkan throughout the week.

כשבא שבת כאלו נשלם המשכן ששבת שלום משלים המלאכה כמ"ש.

When Shabbos came, it was as if the Mishkan were completed, for Shabbos — shalom — completes the work, as explained.

With the arrival of Shabbos the unfinished Mishkan was regarded as whole, because Shabbos, the embodiment of shalom, perfects and completes all labor.

וז"ש למעט שבת ממלאכת המשכן:

And this is the meaning of "to exclude Shabbos from the work of the Mishkan."

Shabbos is "excluded" from the Mishkan's melachah not because it is lesser, but because it stands above it as the completion the whole labor was striving toward.

Summary: The building of the Mishkan is like the weekdays, which are merely a preparation for Shabbos — the goal in which Hashem's indwelling, the supernal level Moshe was "shown," is revealed. Shabbos therefore stands above the melachah of the Mishkan: it is called shalom, lacking nothing, and on it one regards all work as done. In truth Shabbos completes the work. So too every Yisrael, to the degree he keeps Shabbos and releases all weekday concerns, has his imperfect avodah of the week completed by the wholeness of Shabbos — just as the unfinished Mishkan was deemed complete once Shabbos arrived.