You still seem to assume there is a stable ruler, centimeters, in this case. Which seems to be the function light speed serves, as the cosmic ruler. So if space is expanding, relative to that measure, what is the basis for light speed? Are "space" and the "vacuum" different?

If the inertial reference frame is itself traveling at the speed of light, both the clock and the ruler effectively shrink to zero, so what if we take it in the opposite direction, to where the clock is fastest and the ruler is longest, wouldn't that imply it is closest to some overall state of equilibrium? Basically some un-moving void of absolute zero?