Genesis 11:5-6

Genesis 11:5-6

[5] And the LORD  came down  to see  the city  and the tower,  which the children  of men  builded.  [6] And the LORD  said,  Behold, the people  is one,  language;  and this they begin  to do:  and now nothing  will be restrained  from them, which they have imagined  to do. 

What does Genesis 11:5-6 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The builders undoubtedly expected to ascend to heaven to meet God. Instead God descended to earth to meet them. If God had allowed this project to continue the results would have been even worse and more serious than they were at this time. The sin of the builders was their refusal to obey God-given directives.
"Depraved humanity are united in their spiritual endeavor to find, through technology, existential meaning apart from God and the means to transgress its boundaries. Unless God intervenes and divides them by confounding their speech, nothing can stop human beings in their overweening pride and their desire for autonomy." [1]
The construction of cities by itself was not sinful. God chose Jerusalem for His people, and He will create the New Jerusalem for believers to inhabit. It is the pride and security that people place in their cities that God disapproves.