In Exodus 36 (vv.2-7) the people of Isreal donate their silver and gold to the Lord in having the Ark, Tabernacle and other requirements for worship constructed. According to the text there was so much they had to stop; they were actually "restrained from giving for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more." But... where does an impoverished 400 year old slave nation get that kind of wealth?