Musar do Izajasza 6:2

And it is known that the withholding of honor from the Holy One Blessed be He because of the fools who have denied Him or rebelled against Him and said: "What profit [is ours] that we have kept His keeping [i.e., His mitzvoth]?" — such dishonor obtains only in this terrestrial, material world, where "eyes" are those of flesh. But in the higher world, all the angels crown the Blessed One's name and proclaim His glory — how He vivifies and leads them. As Scripture states (Nechemiah, Ibid.): "And the host of the heavens bow down to You." And (I Kings 22:14): "I saw the L-rd sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing before Him, on His right and on His left." (Isaiah 6:2-3): "Seraphs were standing above Him … and one called to the other and said: 'Holy, Holy, Holy is the L-rd of hosts [tzevaoth],'" for which reason the Holy One Blessed be He is called "Tzevakoth," as we find throughout the Torah. And when we reflect well, we see in truth that this world is not even like a mustard seed compared to all of the higher worlds. (For there are many worlds on high, as Chazal have said (Avodah Zarah 3b) that every day the Holy One Blessed be He soars through all His eighteen thousand worlds, and, especially, in respect to what is explained in the holy Zohar in many places.) So that their "rebellion," G-d forbid, is considered naught. And in this world, the Holy One Blessed be He found His people Israel, who are especially beloved by Him — so much so, that they are called "sons" unto Him, viz. (Devarim 14:1): "You are sons, etc." And their voice is sweet to Him, viz. Song of Songs 2:14: "Let Me hear your voice." How, then, can we not be ashamed of ourselves if we do not trust, G-d forbid, in His name, which vivifies all of the worlds? And of all the angels, of whom there are found tens of thousands of them in each class, not one of the celestial angels, from the time the Holy One Blessed be He created all of the worlds, has descended, G-d forbid, to apprise us that he is lacking some of the Divine effluence. And it is known that there are angels whose size is several thousand parasangs, as Chazal have said in Chullin 91b, that the size of Gavriel was two thousand parasangs, this being deduced from what is written in Daniel (10:6) when he [Daniel] saw the angel, viz. "And his body was like [the Sea of] Tarshish," (which is two thousand parasangs.) And there are angels who are much taller, as stated in Chazal (Chagigah 13b) about Sandalfon that he was five hundred years "walking distance" taller than his fellows [(The walking distance of an average man is ten parasangs a day.)] And this little man [in this world], who is not even [the size of] a mustard seed compared to them — how can he constantly fret and worry: "Whence will come my livelihood and whence will come my help!" When we reflect upon this well, we should be astonished much more about ourselves in this than we are astonished at the fool in connection with the bird! There is nothing left for us to do but to gird ourselves with strength and do His will without worrying at all, just as the King's son need not worry that he will be left without a loaf of bread, as it is written (Devarim 14:1): "You are sons to the L-rd your G-d."

We must try and understand why Rabbenu Bachyah was so selective in his comparison of the creation with the construction of the Tabernacle. He could have cited additional parallels. A look at a lengthy Midrash in Shemot Rabbah 33,4 quotes Rabbi Berechyah as presenting a long list of parallels between the Tabernacle and מעשה בראשית. The list includes many items found in the heavens such as ערפל, זבול, עצי שטים, כרובים, אופנים and many others. In each case Rabbi Berechyah demonstrates that the Tabernacle contained something parallel.

We have now learned that the three parts of the Tabernacle correspond to the three parts of the universe concerning which King David said in Psalms 103,20: "Bless the Lord, O, His angels, mighty creatures who do His bidding, ever obedient to His bidding. Bless the Lord all His hosts, His servants who do His will; bless the Lord all His works, through the length and breadth of His realm." David's son Solomon also adopted his father's outlook when he alluded to this in three consecutive verses in Song of Songs 5,13-15. Three different parts of the human body form the subject of those verses, each one representing a different aspect of the universe and how man's composition reflects this division of the universe into three constituent parts. I (Rabbenu Bachyah) have explained this in detail when I discussed Jacob's dream of the ladder." Thus far the quotation from Rabbenu Bachyah.

As we have said, the measurements of such physical phenomena gradually decrease until only a single cubit remains. This cubit which comprises 6 handsbreadths corresponds to the 6 wings with which each of the angels that we read about in Isaiah 6,2 were equipped. Those angels developed "downwards," to eventually form the 70 שרים representing the 70 Gentile nations in the Celestial Spheres which we have called the army of the Heavens. It is said of G–d (Isaiah 40,12) that He established the Heavens with a זרת, the span between the thumb and little finger. When Avital the scribe mentioned the אמה+זרת as the size of Pharaoh's male member, he alluded to the שר של מצרים and the fact that he had some influence in the Celestial Regions. We, the Jewish people, extend to the ראש העליון.