I think the metaphor only sort-of works when you represent the object as a point. The farther you are from an unstable point of equilibrium, the harder you're g

I think the metaphor only sort-of works when you represent the object as a point. The farther you are from an unstable point of equilibrium, the harder you're getting pushed away from it. So if your station gets nudged, the farther part will push the station away harder than the closer part. Overall it probably changes nothing about how much effort is required to keep the station in place.