What was God's plan for Israel once the tabernacle was finished?
Once the tabernacle was completed, God's plan was for Israel to raise it up and go straight north into the Promised Land. He intended them to trust Him explicitly, without delaying for the twelve spies or any such thing. The tabernacle would be ready in a year, and no delay was part of His purpose.
Les teaches that the ritual system of worship, including the tabernacle and priesthood, was given so Israel would know exactly what to do under any set of circumstances. But in the context of chapter 23, before the tabernacle, the story of the ten or twelve spies going into Canaan was not part of God's plan at all. God intended Israel to trust Him explicitly after He had miraculously brought them out of Egypt and through the Red Sea. Les asks what some measly little Canaanites were, even if seven or eight feet tall, compared with such a God. God's intention was that as soon as the tabernacle was completed, which would be in a year, He wanted them to raise it up, and He was going to take them right straight north into the Promised Land. There would be no delay with twelve spies or any such thing.