Shabbos elevates the week's deeds to root

סדר פרשיות אלו מקודם קבלת התורה שהי' תיקון הבריאה.

The order of these parshiyos: first came Kabbalas haTorah, which was the rectification of creation.

The Sefas Emes considers the sequence of the parshiyos. The giving of the Torah came first and served as the tikkun, the setting-right, of the entire creation.

ואחר החטא איתא קלקלתם נעשה לכן נתקן ע"י המשכן.

And after the sin [of the Golden Calf], it is taught, "you ruined it" — therefore it was repaired by means of the Mishkan.

The cheit ha-egel damaged that rectification; the Mishkan was then given as the means to restore and repair what had been ruined.

וכמו בעת הבריאה נברא אדם בסוף.

And just as at the time of creation, man was created last.

He draws a parallel to the order of creation, where the human being was formed at the very end.

אח"כ השבת.

And afterward, Shabbos.

After man's creation came Shabbos, the seventh day that crowns and elevates the whole.

כמו כן בסדר מעשה המשכן אחר כך ראה קראתי בשם בצלאל.

So too in the order of the making of the Mishkan, afterward comes "See, I have called Betzalel by name" (Shmos 31:2).

The same pattern recurs in the Mishkan's account: after the instructions, Betzalel — the "man" who builds it — is called, paralleling man being created last.

אח"כ השבת.

And afterward, Shabbos.

And just as in creation, the command of Shabbos follows immediately after — the section of Shabbos comes right after Betzalel's appointment.

כי האדם צריך לעלות ולחבר כל העשי' בשורשו.

For man must ascend and connect all of the doing to its root.

Man's role is to take all his actions and labor and raise them up, binding them back to their spiritual root.

וביום השבת עולין כל המעשים כפי עבודת האדם בימי המעשה.

And on Shabbos all the deeds ascend, according to a person's avodah during the weekdays.

Shabbos is when the week's actions are elevated to their root — and the measure of that elevation depends on how a person served Hashem through the workdays.

לכן שבת יום מנוחה גם בעבודת הבורא ית'.

Therefore Shabbos is a day of rest, even in the avodah of the Creator.

Shabbos is restful not only from physical labor but even within one's avodah — a state of menuchah where the work of the week comes to its settled completion.

כי כמה נפילות יש גם לצדיק כמ"ש שבע יפול צדיק וקם

For there are many fallings even for a tzaddik, as it is written, "A tzaddik falls seven times and rises" (Mishlei 24:16).

Even a righteous person suffers repeated setbacks during the week; the very nature of weekday avodah involves falling and getting up again.

וע"י יום השבת שאין בו מגע נכרי כמ"ש ביני ובין בני ישראל אות הוא וכדאיתא בגמרא שניתן בצנעא ונק' מתנה בבית גנזי.

And through Shabbos, in which there is no "foreign touch," as it is written, "It is a sign between Me and Bnei Yisrael" (Shmos 31:17) — and as it is taught in the Gemara that it was given in private and is called a gift, "in My treasure-house" (Shabbos 10b).

Shabbos is untouched by any outside, alien element. It is exclusively "between Me and Bnei Yisrael," a hidden gift Hashem drew from His own treasury — a bond no foreign force can intrude upon.

שאף שנמסר לבנ"י מ"מ הוא בדרך גניזה והסתר.

For although it was handed over to Bnei Yisrael, it is nevertheless in a manner of concealment and hiddenness.

Even though Shabbos was given to Bnei Yisrael to keep, its inner essence remains a hidden, treasured matter — a concealed gift held in safekeeping.

ולכן מה שפעל האדם בימי המעשה נתקן בש"ק לעלות לשורשו ונמצא נגמר פעולה הטובה בהיות האדם מחזיק במעוזו רק ששת הימים עד בוא יום השבת קודש כאמור:

Therefore, whatever a person accomplished during the weekdays is rectified on Shabbos Kodesh to ascend to its root; and thus the good deed is completed when a person holds fast to his stronghold only for the six days until Shabbos Kodesh arrives, as stated.

The good a person achieves in the week is only completed and perfected on Shabbos, when it rises to its root. A person's task, then, is simply to hold firmly to Hashem (his "stronghold") through the six workdays — even amid falls — until Shabbos comes and gathers and elevates all that he has done.

Summary: Just as man was created last and then came Shabbos, so in the Mishkan Betzalel is appointed and then comes Shabbos — for man's role is to lift all his weekday actions and bind them to their root. Even a tzaddik falls and rises repeatedly during the week; Shabbos, an untouchable hidden gift "between Me and Bnei Yisrael," is when the week's deeds ascend and are rectified. A person need only hold fast to Hashem through the six days, and Shabbos completes and elevates all his good.