The Targum Yonason explains that this middle bar originated from Avraham’s famous “inn” from which he would provide food and drink for wayfarers. The angels cut it down and threw it into the sea, where it floated until it was retrieved by Moshe. Horav E. Muller, Shlita, notes the significance of this statement. Everyone was requested to contribute their heartfelt donation towards the construction of the Mishkan. In order to maintain this structure, however, it was essential to have as the middle bar a pole which was derived from a house which exemplified the highest level of chesed.
The Mishkan, in which the Shechinah “rested,” was built from and maintained upon chesed. We should take serious note of this ethical lesson. The Mishkan depicted the type of sanctity required of Klal Yisrael. All of the vessels served to demonstrate the various attributes which should combine to produce the Torah Jew. A person imbued with such noble qualities must exemplify the middah of chesed in order to maintain them.
