A book called temperament, by Stuart isacoff helped me get an understanding of what scales and keys are.
It was an interesting read.
Scales, or keys, are kind of like a focal point of a specific part of the spectrum of sound. If you are looking at (listening to) the note (or pitch) C, the C major scale is sort of like a description of the order of prominence of the sympathetic vibration of all other possible pitches, as they relate to "C".
You play C, then e,g,b,d,f,a sympathetically hum because of it, answer to it, point at it.
All notes do relate to each other, but some just seem to sound"better" together than others. That's part of the reason why.
So if you know what the notes of your scale are, in alphabetical order, skipping every other note will produce the chords of that key. So it would be C (d) E (f) G...
If you play those notes individually, it's arpeggiation of the chord, if you play them simultaneously, then it's just the chord.
The same pattern of chords will appear in each type of scale. There's a thing called the Berklee method, which uses upper and lower case Romans numerals to describe the type of chords produced in each set of keys types that makes it easier to see and understand.
I've got a specific approach to the physical practice of scales, but it's difficult to explain without being able to show you. I'll try to write it down if you want.
Not my best explanation, but maybe it will help.
Also, the combination version of the guitar grimoire can be pretty useful.