“If that were universally true, God would not have commanded Israel to make them at certain occasions...”
I think everyone can agree if God gives a specific command that can serve to bypass a general rule God has given. Absent such a specific command, however, the general rule is still in effect.
In commanding the making of images for the Temple and other instances, it is clear that God is not by-passing his own rules at all. After all, the First Commandment doesn't forbid the making of images; it forbids making them for the purpose of worshipping them:
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them... (Exodus 20:4-5)