Acts 7:46

‘Who found favour in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for the house of Jacob (or in some MSS ‘the God of Jacob').'

And David himself found favour in God's sight, and wanted to find some kind of habitation (skene - tent) for the house (or ‘God') of Jacob. However, as all knew, God had forbidden him to erect a permanent house, which was surely significant (2 Samuel 7:5). Stephen is deliberately bringing out that David's idea was of a habitation of God which was satisfactory to God, and could therefore be compared with the Tabernacle, in contrast with the Temple.

‘A tent for the house/God of Jacob.' The best manuscripts have ‘a tent for the house of Jacob'. It may be that here Stephen is using ‘Jacob' as a shortened form for ‘the God of Jacob' (compare Psalms 24:6), meaning therefore that David sought a tent which would be suitable for the house of the God of Jacob. Or the meaning may simply be a tent suitable for the house of Jacob to worship in. See here Isaiah 2:2 where the ‘house of the God of Jacob' is the exalted new age Temple, and the house of Jacob are called to walk in His ways.

For ‘a habitation for the God of Jacob', which is the reading in A E, compare ‘a dwellingplace for the Mighty One of Jacob' (Psalms 132:5).

Whichever is the correct reading the idea is that David was seeking something suitable for the worship of God. And Stephen was probably indicating that notice should be taken of the fact that God forbade him to build a Temple because he was not a fit person to do so, as indeed we shall soon learn no one was fir to do so. A house made with human hands could never be satisfactory. It glorified humanity.