The Zohar Hakadosh says:
ועם כל דא לא אשתלים [עלמא] עד דקבילו ישראל אורייתא בטורא דסיני ואתקם משכנא כדין אתקיימו עלמין ואשתלימו ואתבסמו עלאין ותתאין, כיון דאורייתא ומשכנא אתוקמו בעא קודשא בריך הוא למפקד חילוי דאורייתא כמה חיילין אינון דאורייתא כמה חיילין אינון דמשכנא.
The world was only completed when the Torah was given and the mishkan was built. At that point Hashem wanted to count how many "soldiers" he had for Torah and how much he had for the mishkan.
The Divine secret [רז העליון] is that the Neshama can only perceive and be elevated when it descends into the body. In the same way, the Divine Light can only be revealed when it descends and is contracted. That was the idea behind the travels of the Jewish people with the dismantling of the mishkan and covering of the holy vessels. Specifically then it was forbidden for the sons of Kehas to look, as it says "ולא יבואו לראות כבלע את הקודש ומתו" because when the holy is "swallowed up" by the coverings then is a time of extra sensory perception and revelations [השגות וגילוים] and if one looks and sees as if the light has descended he might think that there has been a change and falling of the Divine, G-d forbid. Therefore if one looks he has shown a lack of compassion to his Creator [אינו חס על כבוד קונו - see Mishna Chagiga 2-1] while in truth that is like a time or rebirth and THAT is its elevation. So it just LOOKS like a falling but it really isn't.
That is the meaning of the pasuk in this weeks parsha "ויתילדו על משפחותם" - "They were born in there families" because in this counting where Hashem showed his love for us, we are elevated and perfect the soul which is in the body.
What is required of us is to make sure that all of the fallings where the Lights become more coarse [האורות מתעבים] and reach their perfection through the descent in to what is like the body shouldn't stop the return of the Lights to their root as "אור החזור" because the descent below is like "אור ישר" while the return above is like "אור חוזר" and the coarseness didn't occur in order that it should stay that way but rather in order to help elevate the Light. Since without the body it can't attain what it can with the body and if the Light doesn't return that is a sign that the body didn't affect the soul as it should have. Therefore we need many purifications [צירופים] in order that the soul be able to return to its "Father's house".
[עפ"י דברי מרן הגאון רבי יעקב משה חרל"פ זצ"ל]
What is required of us is to make sure that all of the fallings where the Lights become more coarse [האורות מתעבים] and reach their perfection through the descent in to what is like the body shouldn't stop the return of the Lights to their root as "אור החזור" because the descent below is like "אור ישר" while the return above is like "אור חוזר" and the coarseness didn't occur in order that it should stay that way but rather in order to help elevate the Light. Since without the body it can't attain what it can with the body and if the Light doesn't return that is a sign that the body didn't affect the soul as it should have. Therefore we need many purifications [צירופים] in order that the soul be able to return to its "Father's house".
[עפ"י דברי מרן הגאון רבי יעקב משה חרל"פ זצ"ל]
