Exodus 33:5

And the Lord said to Mosheh, Speak to the sons of Israel, Ye are a hard-necked people: were the glory of My Shekinah to go up with you, in one little hour I should destroy you. And now put thy accustomed ornaments from thee, that it may be manifest before Me what I may do to thee.

רגע אחד אעלה בקרבך וכליתיך, whereas at this time you are mourning about My not being personally in your midst, (verse 3) you fail to understand that this is intended for your benefit, and may save you from instant extinction. You are, after all, such a stiff-necked people unwilling to respond to admonition, even though at the revelation of Mount Sinai you had become equipped to attain spiritual perfection.

ועתה הורד עדיך מעליך, this spiritual preparedness which you attained at the revelation is something that G’d does not unilaterally remove from the people as we have a rule that gifts are not revoked without the consent of the recipient. Our sages have phrased it thus in Taanit 25 (where the golden leg miraculously given to Rabbi Chanina was taken back only after he had prayed for it to revert to where it came from.)

ואדעה מה אעשה לך, for once you do this as an admission of your guilt you will not be guilty of the ultimate punishment.

ועתה הורד עדיך מעליך, “and now, take off your ornaments!” This command is difficult to understand as the Torah had already reported the people as having no longer put on their jewelry without having been ordered not to put it on. (Compare Exodus 33,4) Presumably, the people did not put their jewelry on for a day as a sign of mourning, but had put it on again on the following day. They had to be told therefore that at least as long as they had not atoned for their sin they were not allowed to wear ornaments. Rabbi Joseph Kara of blessed memory, explained verse four in our chapter, which reported the Israelites as not having put on their jewelry, as referring to the festive garments, the ones they had worn at the time the Ten Commandments had been revealed to them. This was the meaning of Exodus 19,14, where after immersing themselves in a ritual bath in preparation for that that event, they are described as putting on their garments. Had they been the same garments they had worn before immersing themselves in a ritual bath, the Torah certainly did not have to tell us that. They had had their jewelry removed from them by angels sent for that purpose to make them conscious of their great sin, as reported in the Talmud, tractate Shabbat folio 88. This is also the meaning of Exodus 33,6: ויתנצלו בני ישראל, “they stripped themselves; An alternate explanation: the meaning of the words in verse 4: ולא שתו וגו', is that they took off their uniforms, as if saying that unless G–d will march with us we will not agree to fight for possession of the land of Canaan. When G–d heard that He told them that instead of taking off their military uniforms they better take off their jewelry instead for as long as He would tell them what he had in mind for them.