If we were to receive all the laws for shabbos at Sinai why then is it the Mishkan to where we direct our attention when it comes to classifying all the things we cannot do on Shabbos? Wasn't the mishkan an atonement for the golden calf? Wasn't the concept of shabbos conceived after hashem created the world? Were Jews not also keeping Shabbos prior to receiving the Torah at Har Sinai?
So, why the emphasis on the mishkan in this sense? Does this also imply that the laws of shabbos were more solidified after the instructions were given for the mishkan?
Answer
I think I understand your question to be leaning more towards philosophy, however the question works in a broader sense as well, so I'll answer the basic question as worded in the heading, "Why are Melochos based on the construction of the Mishkan?"
The simplest answer to this question is that the Mishkan needed to be constructed almost entirely from scratch, making it a perfect model of creating something for the purest motivations, which is nonetheless prohibited on Shabbath. When the Torah tells us, in a nutshell, "Build my tabernacle to all its specifications, but make sure nobody violates the sabbath," we understand that construction of the Mishkan itself, despite its heavenly goal, is prohibited on Shabbath because of the types of creative labor that are involved. Essentially we read the command as, "Build my tabernacle, but not on Shabbath." Then our Mesorah tells us specifically which activities were done that are prohibited, outlining for us what we may not do on any given Shabbath.
See more here: "The Relationship between Shabbat and the Construction of the Mishkan" by Rabbi Michael Rosensweig (Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University)
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