Soil from Stone: Korah's Rebellion: Playing with Fire

Numbers 16:38 - The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.

If Korah, Datan, and Abiram were sinners, why should their censers be made holy by their offerings?

God is a God of order and laws. He ordered the universe so that if you jump from the surface of the Earth, you will fall back to it. If you speak evil things of yourself, evil things will tend to happen to you. If you lie, cheat, and steal, negative consequences will accrue. And if you dedicate something over which you have legitimate authority to God, that thing becomes holy to God. Although God will listen to his faithful and shower special blessings on those who love him, the laws of the universe apply equally to all men regardless of their standing in the kingdom.

OK, so why should those things wrought by wickedness be used as part of the furniture of the Tabernacle?

This is not a matter of the ends justifying the means. The means were evil, and the actors paid a heavy price. God has a plan, however, and that plan still operates within the universe that he created to be governed by his laws. The censers that Korah and company used in their coup attempt could no longer be used for any mundane purpose because they were still dedicated to God. It would also be inappropriate to use them as censers and thereby bestow some small amount of honor on Korah. Instead they were fired and beaten into something their creators did not intend.

Such is the case with all evil designs. They never end as intended. Satan forever attempts to twist God’s creation into something foreign, and so God does the same with Satan’s: