The journey through the desert required a highly organized system for dismantling and transporting the Tabernacle. Under the supervision of Ithamar, son of Aaron the Priest, the Levite families divided the labor carefully. The family of Gershon was entrusted with carrying the textiles, garments, and curtains. This assignment was physically lighter compared to the heavy wooden boards, pillars, and copper sockets carried by the family of Merari [רבנו בחיי].
The transport of the Tabernacle's roof involved rolling up its distinct textile layers from the inside out. The innermost layer consisted of ten curtains that formed the inner ceiling of the structure. Above these rested eleven goat-hair curtains, which served as a protective tent over the delicate inner layer [רש״י, שפתי חכמים, מזרחי, ביאור שטיינזלץ, גור אריה]. Moving outward, the next layer was a covering generally understood to be made of red-dyed ram skins, a detail established in other descriptions of the Tabernacle [אבן עזרא, הטור הארוך, רבנו בחיי, אבי עזר]. Finally, the outermost layer was made of tachash skins.
The exact arrangement of these outer leather coverings is a subject of discussion among the commentators. Some maintain that the ram skins and tachash skins were completely separate coverings, carried individually by the Levites during the journey [גור אריה, ברכת אשר]. Others suggest that the two types of skin were sewn and glued together to form a single, unified layer [אבן עזרא, הטור הארוך, רבנו בחיי]. A third perspective proposes that there were not two overlapping covers, but rather a single sheet crafted half from ram skins and half from tachash skins. According to this view, the ram skins covered the main Sanctuary area, while the tachash skins were placed exclusively over the Holy of Holies [העמק דבר, ברכת אשר].
In addition to the roof layers, the Gershonites were responsible for the screen at the entrance of the Tabernacle. This was the curtain that partitioned the eastern doorway. While the Tabernacle only had one entrance, emphasizing its exact location clarifies that this screen was a distinct, standalone curtain. It was entirely separate from the folded edge of the upper roof curtain that hung down over the front of the tent, which was attached to the rest of the roof and not considered a screen in its own right [רש״י, מזרחי, גור אריה, שפתי חכמים].
The precise listing of these tent layers and coverings also carries legal significance regarding the laws of ritual purity. By closely associating the upper leather coverings with the lower goat-hair tent, a legal parallel is established. Just as the goat-hair layer is halachically defined as a tent capable of contracting impurity, the leather coverings above it are also classified as a formal tent, making them equally susceptible to ritual impurity from a corpse [תורה תמימה].