“Matter and energy are the two basic components of the entire Universe. An enormous challenge for scientists is that most of the matter in the Universe is invisible, and the source of most of the energy remains unknown. How can we study the Universe if we can’t see most of it?  95% of matter and energy in the Universe is currently unobservable.” -https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/big-questions/what-universe-made

Pardon me, Harvard, but aren’t you missing something?

Matter and energy are not the most basic components of the entire Universe; space is by far the most basic component of the Universe. Everything is contained within space. If anything is considered a fundamental necessity, space would be it. Space is essential for objects to exist and move. 

That means we need space for movement. Without movement, there is no change. With no change, there is no experience. Space is the screen upon which the drama of existence is played. If space were created, it would have to be one of the very first things to materialize.

Einstein’s theory of gravity tells us that mass bends spacetime. To make this image palpable, they call it the fabric of spacetime.  Space and time are complementary, but not one thing, because they are different. Both are measures, but space measures distance, and time measures duration. 

But what is it that does the measuring? Surely, the measurers are as important as the measure. It is our consciousness that does the measuring.

Are space and time physical objects that can bend or flow? Does light follow the bent curves of space and warp time? 

Space is much more than emptiness. It is a mix of particles, cosmic dust, and radiation—not to mention the home of all universal fields, such as magnetic fields —and possibly forms of matter like dark energy and dark matter. Interstellar space contains tiny particles of various elements, including carbon and silicon, scattered throughout space.

As there are different forms of energy, there are different forms of spatial content. The vast majority of localized space has content. This is where the difference between infinite and finite space comes into play. An infinite universe would have no borders, but it would go on indefinitely. But a finite universe would also have no borders because the universe is all that exists. There is no physical reality beyond the universe. When the universe expands, it simply becomes larger. It is not housed in an existing envelope. There is nothing beyond the universe but non-existence, a total void of nothingness.

However. space means everything; occupied or unoccupied. There are still points, locations, and existence. The universe is, by definition, still all that exists. That is where existence takes place, and the now ticks away time.

But on close examination, we find that along with space, time is being measured even as we speak. The cognitive mind records information and events as we move through the now, second by second, frame by frame. 

All of this information, observation, and experience is recorded in spacetime. 

Space, not force, seems to be the source of gravity, creating a boundary around matter when it interacts with mass. The more mass, the thicker the border. Since both finite and infinite spaces have no borders, these boundaries are imposed upon the mass. Space has energy. It is the home of energy, and infinite space has infinite energy.