Let's look at that passage again with emphasis:
And when Aaron saw [it], he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow [is] a feast to the LORD. - Exodus 32:3-5
The glory which was due to God for bringing them out of Egypt they instead gave to their "image" of gods and worse they felt it was perfectly ok to celebrate/worship God in front of the "image."
For me, the bottom lines from that passage are:
2. Don't imagine anyone or anything to be like Him.
3. Don't insult God by celebrating or worshiping Him in proximity to either of the above two abominations.
The point remains that veneration of saints has nothing in common with making calves and worshiping them.