Exodo 26:1 Comentario: Rashi, Chizkuni, Kli Yakar & Sforno

ואת המשכן תעשה עשר יריעת MOREOVER THOU SHALT MAKE THE DWELLING OF TEN CURTAINS — that they should serve it as a roof and at the same time as wall-coverings for the outside of the boards; — for the curtains hung behind them so as to cover them.

ואת המשכן תעשה עשר יריאות, “and as for theTabernacle itself, make it of ten strips of cloth;” here the Torah speaks of the lower coverings which serves as roof of the structure. They are the ones that are really called משכן, “Tabernacle,” not the skins that were on top and served as protective coverings. These “carpet like” strips of expensive cloth were immediately above the furnishings, the Holy Ark, Menorah, table and golden altar.

“And the tabernacle you shall make of ten curtains.” It should have said “And you shall make a tabernacle” as it says And you shall make a table and You shall make a menorah of gold. Since the tabernacle [mishkan] is named for I will dwell [v’shakhanti] among them, it is not appropriate to use the language of “making” regarding His divine presence, for this attribute belongs solely to God, as it is said And I will set My tabernacle among you (Leviticus 26:11). Therefore, He did not want to mention the term “making” except in reference to the 10 curtains and not to His tabernacle. Thus, the interpretation is: And the tabernacle — that which I have already said I will dwell among them — will be accomplished by you making 10 curtains, etc.
Now regarding the pattern of its construction, all commentators agree that it was built according to the pattern of the three worlds, to indicate that the world exists on the foundation of this structure. Therefore, it was made of 10 curtains corresponding to the worlds in their entirety, which were created with 10 utterances. And all of them were suspended until the sixth day of Sivan, contingent upon Israel accepting the 10 Commandments. Those of the creation of the world were called “utterances” because all speech [amirah] is gentle, and likewise all the works of creation were created in their desired form without coercion. But the Commandments, the Lord of heaven and earth spoke to us harshly, saying: “If you accept the Torah, good, and if not, there shall be your burial place.” And this is what is meant by The voice of the Lord is in power (Psalms 29:4), for He forced them powerfully to accept the Torah. Therefore, the length of each curtain was 28 cubits, corresponding to the numerical value of the word “koach” (power, כח = 28), as it is said He has declared to His people the power of His works (Psalms 111:6), because the tablets were the work of God, and He told them harsh things like sinews — these being the punishments, as Rashi explained — and this is [the meaning of] “power” [koach].
And the curtains were five opposite five, corresponding to the 10 Commandments, which were five commandments opposite five. The first five commandments concern the relationship between man and God, blessed be He, and the latter five commandments concern the relationship between man and his fellow. And the Ba’al HaTurim also explained that they were corresponding to the 10 Commandments, five opposite five, and the 50 clasps corresponding to the 50 gates of understanding.

שש משזר ותכלת וארגמן ותלעת שני OF FINE TWINED LINEN AND BLUE PURPLE, AND RED PURPLE, AND CRIMSON — Thus there were four different materials in every thread, one of linen and three of wool, each of the strands of which a thread was composed being sixfold (the word is taken here in the double sense of שש “linen” and of שש “six”). Consequently the four materials intertwined into one thread gave a twenty-four-fold thread (Yoma 71b; Baraita DeMelekhet HaMishkan ch. 2).