Take Two Tablets: How Were the Dibrot Displayed on the Luhot?

(15) Thereupon Moses turned and went down from the mountain bearing the two tablets of the Pact, tablets inscribed on both their surfaces: they were inscribed on the one side and on the other. (16) The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing, incised upon the tablets. ... (19) As soon as Moses came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he became enraged; and he hurled the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain.

(9) I had ascended the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the Tablets of the Covenant that the LORD had made with you, and I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, eating no bread and drinking no water. (10) And the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God, with the exact words that the LORD had addressed to you on the mountain out of the fire on the day of the Assembly. (11) At the end of those forty days and forty nights, the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, the Tablets of the Covenant. ... (15) I started down the mountain, a mountain ablaze with fire, the two Tablets of the Covenant in my two hands.

(1) Thereupon the LORD said to me, “Carve out two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain; and make an ark of wood. (2) I will inscribe on the tablets the commandments that were on the first tablets that you smashed, and you shall deposit them in the ark.” (3) I made an ark of acacia wood and carved out two tablets of stone like the first; I took the two tablets with me and went up the mountain. (4) The LORD inscribed on the tablets the same text as on the first, the Ten Commandments that He addressed to you on the mountain out of the fire on the day of the Assembly; and the LORD gave them to me. (5) Then I left and went down from the mountain, and I deposited the tablets in the ark that I had made, where they still are, as the LORD had commanded me.

HIS HANDS ARE AS RODS OF GOLD. These are the tablets of the covenant, as it says, "And the tables were the work of God" (Ex. 32:16). RODS [G'LILEI] OF GOLD. These are words of Torah of which it is said, "[The Torah of Adonai is perfect ...] More desirable than gold, yea, than fine gold" (Ps. 19:11). R' Yehoshua ben Nehemia said, "They [the tablets] were of a miraculous nature: they rolled up [niglalin], yet were of hard stone. R' Menahema said in the name of R' Abun, "They were hewn from the orb of the sun." How were they inscribed? Five commandments on one tablet and five on the other, as it says, "HIS HANDS ARE AS RODS OF GOLD." This follows the view of R' Hanina ben Gamliel, who adduced the verse, "And He wrote them on two tables of stone" (Deut. 4:13). The Rabbis say there were ten on each tablet, as it says, "And He declared unto you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even the ten statements; and He wrote them on two tables of stone." R' Shimon ben Yohai said, "There were 20 on each tablet, as it says, 'And He wrote them on two tables of stone'" -- that is, 20 on each. R' Simai said, "There were 40 on each stone, as it says, 'Tables that were written on both their sides, on this one side and on that' (Ex. 32:15) -- in a square."
(2) Hanania the son of R' Yehoshua's brother said, "Between every two statements were written the sections and details of the Torah. When R' Yohanan in the course of studying the Scripture came to this verse, "SET WITH BERYLS," he used to say, "I have to thank the son of R' Yehoshua's brother for teaching me this. Just as in the sea between every two large waves there are small waves, so between every statement and the next one, the sections and details of the Torah were written." SET WITH BERYLS [TARSHISH}. This refers to the Talmud which is like the Great Sea, as we read, "Unto Tarshish" (Jonah 1:3), and so we read, "All the rivers run into the sea" (Eccl. 1:7).
[Soncino transl., with modifications.]

SH'NEI LUHOT HA'EDUT. What is "two tablets"? Corresponding to heaven and earth. Corresponding to groom and bride. Corresponding to the two shoshvinim [agents/groomsmen]. Corresponding to this world and the world to come.
SH'NEI LUHOT HA'EDUT. R' Hanina said, "It is written [as if it were vocalized] luhat [an apparently singular form] -- neither of them bigger than the other..

HONOR YOUR FATHER. Having finished all that we are obligated towards the Creator Himself and His glory, He turns now to command us about those matters which concern created beings.... [transl. Chavel]

This is also the mystical aspect of our sages’ saying (Shevuot 20), “the words "zachor" and "shamor" were said as one,” for "zachor" is the attribute of compassion, and "shamor" the attribute of justice, and so the voice with "zachor" and "shamor" is the attribute of compassion within the attribute of justice. This was also why there were two tablets, five against five, one tablet corresponding to the attribute of compassion and the second tablet, on which there also five statements, with five negative statements and beginning with "do not murder," corresponding to the attribute of justice, and for this reason, they were two, and not all of the statements were on a single tablet. And Moshe our Teacher, a"h, who reached HaShem the special One, _he_ is the attribute of tif'eret, he would hear "zachor," and all of Israel "shamor."