Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Sforno · Torah
Sforno on Exodus 26:9/ספורנו על שמות כ״ו:ט׳
אוְחִבַּרְתָּ אֶת חֲמֵשׁ הַיְרִיעֹת לְבָד. שֶׁגַּם בָּאֹהֶל יֵשׁ הֶבְדֵּל בֵּין מַדְרֵגוֹת קְצָתָם לְמַדְרֵגוֹת קְצָתָם, כָּעִנְיָן בְּמָנִיעֵי הַגַּלְגַּל הַנִּקְרָאִים אֹהֶל, כְּאָמְרוֹ (תהלים יט:ה) "לַשֶּׁמֶשׁ שָׂם אֹהֶל בָּהֶם".
1וחברת את חמש היריעות לבד, even within the Tabernacle there was a difference between levels of sanctity. It is reminiscent of what David said in Psalms 19,5 where the subjects are the different planetary forces and their orbits, each of them closer or further from the center, the sun. All of them represent forces created by G’d to help run an orderly universe, and all of them, in David’s own words, proclaim G’d’s handiwork; yet at the end, David reminds us that G’d appointed the sun as a “tent” to “cover” them all, i.e. their diversity.