Whenever the cloud was lifted from above the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out through all the stages of their journey.
Parallel translations
- WEB When the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward, throughout all their journeys;
- KJV And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys:
- NKJV Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys.
- NASB Throughout their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out;
- NLT Now whenever the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out on their journey, following it.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
When the cloud lifted from the tabernacle, Israel set out on their journey. God's presence directed their travels.
Overview
The cloud of God's presence served as Israel's guide; its lifting was the signal to break camp and move forward. This showed that the nation's journey was governed not by their own planning but by God's leading. It illustrates the life of faith, in which God's people are called to follow His guidance and presence step by step.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Neh 9:19You in Your great compassion did not forsake them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud never turned away from guiding them on their path; and by the night the pillar of fire illuminated the way they should go.
- Num 9:17Whenever the cloud was lifted from above the Tent, the Israelites would set out, and wherever the cloud settled, there the Israelites would camp.
- Num 10:11–13On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud was lifted from above the tabernacle of the Testimony,
- Exod 13:21–22And the LORD went before them in a pillar of cloud to guide their way by day, and in a pillar of fire to give them light by night, so that they could travel by day or night.
- Num 19:17–22For the purification of the unclean person, take some of the ashes of the burnt sin offering, put them in a jar, and pour fresh water over them.
- Ps 78:14He led them with a cloud by day and with a light of fire all night.
- Ps 105:39He spread a cloud as a covering and a fire to light up the night.
- Num 10:33–36So they set out on a three-day journey from the mountain of the LORD, with the ark of the covenant of the LORD traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a resting place for them.
- 1 Cor 10:1I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and that they all passed through the sea.
- 2 Cor 5:19–20that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 40:36 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.