What did the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night signify (Exodus 13:21-22)?
Answered from the commentary of C. H. Mackintosh, An Outline of Sound Words, Arno Clemens Gaebelein and 5 others
They signified the Lord’s presence with His redeemed people: He went before them, guiding them by day and giving them light by night, and His presence was their protection and constant care. The cloud led them through the trackless wilderness, and they were to move or rest according to its direction, trusting the Lord with the way ahead. In the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, the Lord’s presence stayed with them throughout their journey.
Verses: Exodus 13:21, Exodus 13:22, Exodus 14:19, Exodus 14:20, Exodus 14:24, Numbers 9:15, Numbers 9:16, Numbers 9:17, Numbers 9:18, Numbers 9:19, Numbers 9:20, Numbers 9:21, Numbers 9:22, Numbers 9:23, Numbers 10:34, Deuteronomy 1:33, Nehemiah 9:12, Nehemiah 9:19, Psalms 78:14, Psalms 99:7, Psalms 105:39, Isaiah 4:5, Isaiah 4:6, 1 Corinthians 10:1, 1 Corinthians 10:2
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The closing verses of the chapter record how God put before His people the visible symbol of His presence. He became their Leader in this striking way and in spite of all their subsequent failure and faithlessness did not forsake them. In the pillar of cloud He was their guide by day. In the pillar of fire He was their light by night. And what He was, He was always. What they had in this visible way we have in His word today and in the presence of His Holy Spirit.
"And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: he took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people." Jehovah not only selected a path for His people, but He also came down to walk with them therein, and make Himself known to them according to their need. He not only conducted them safely outside the bounds of Egypt, but He also came down, as it were, in His travelling chariot, to be their companion through all the vicissitudes of their wilderness journey. This was divine grace. They were not merely delivered out of the furnace of Egypt and then allowed to make the best of their way to Canaan. Such was not God's manner toward them. He knew that they had a toilsome and perilous journey before them, through serpents and scorpions, snares and difficulties, drought and barrenness; and He, blessed be His name for ever, would not suffer them to go alone. He would be the companion of all their toils and dangers; yea, "He went before them." He was "a guide, a glory, a defence, to save from every fear." Alas! that they should ever have grieved that Blessed One by their hardness of heart. Had they only walked humbly, contentedly, and confidingly with Him, their march would have been a triumphant one from first to last. With Jehovah in their forefront, no power could have interrupted their onward progress from Egypt to Canaan. He would have carried them through and planted them in the mountain of His inheritance, according to His promise, and by the power of His right hand; nor should as much as a single Canaanite have been allowed to remain therein to be a thorn in their side. Thus will it be, by and by, when Jehovah shall set His hand, a second time, to deliver His people from under the power of all their oppressors. May the Lord hasten the time!
Leaving Succoth, they are led by a supernatural manifestation of God's presence, a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire by night. They would not see beyond the cloud nor beyond the pillar of fire, but they were simply called upon to follow. Thus faith is to realize that we do not need to know what may await us even at the end of a day, but to simply follow the evident leading of the Lord at the present time. He will take care of all that may be future. How good if we remain at peace in the confidence of His leading us rightly. Both of these pillars ought to have filled the people with joy in knowing God's perfect care for them.
And what a sight it must have been — the vast multitude moving from their dwellings in orderly array, with one object before them, an object never before seen — a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, that they might go by day and by night. The Lord God of the Hebrews thus put Himself at the head of the exodus. He, not Moses, was leading; the people were following. That pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night was the token of Jehovah's presence, which was never to leave them for forty consecutive years. From Rameses they started on the fifteenth of Nisan (Num. 33:3), and took their way to Succoth; from thence they moved and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.
As soon as Israel have been redeemed by the blood on the lintel, and have started on their journey, this Pillar meets them, and sets itself before them to be their Guide. They are about to enter on a trackless waste. No man dwelt where Israel was soon to travel. There were no land-marks, no signposts there. Its barrenness would demand bread from heaven, its drought water from the Rock, but its pathlessness would as surely need a Leader — and He who was to open angels' stores for them, and rivers in rocks, would raise for them a Pillar to be cloud by day and fire by night, that they might still be on their way, whether by night or day. And thus they would be independent of highways and sign-posts in the trackless desert, as they would be of cornfields and vineyards in the barren desert.
The pillar of cloud and of fire was the outward sign of Jehovah's presence with His people. By day and by night He guarded and led His people. The Keeper of Israel does not sleep nor slumber. He journeys along with them. It was but one pillar and Jehovah was present in it (chapter 14:24). The glory of the Lord appeared in that cloud (16:10; 40:34; Numbers 9:15). That glory cloud filled Solomon's temple and was seen retreating and returning to heaven (Ezek. 11:22-25). It will be seen again when the King comes back from heaven's glory and His glory will be established over Jerusalem (Isaiah 4). The sign of the Son of Man may be the Shekinah cloud.
The pillar of cloud gave guidance. When the cloud moved the whole camp had to move in unison. There was no blessing for the individual save with the company, for the company gathered round the Tabernacle with its cloudy pillar—in other words, the presence of the Lord was their protection and the pillar of cloud was Jehovah’s guidance for His people.
But how could the miscellaneous host know which way it should go, and how should each member of it be assured of his direction? They came out from various of the towns of Goshen, and probably some may have even been camped near On! Here is the answer: "The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night." * All Israel rallied to Jehovah's uplifted beacon, and with eyes fixed upon its movements each Israelite knew where next to place his foot, and each such step was a confirmation of faith. The pillar was of cloud and fire, (Ex. 13:21) a visible and enduring sign of Jehovah's presence with Israel all the way of their wilderness journey. Ancient armies had at times braziers carried aloft before them to guide the troops in trackless countries the "fire-look" of Israel was the glory-cloud of Jehovah.
The host of Egypt had come out, and were pressing on the heels of the children of Israel; and then, the Pillar puts itself between the two hosts; and instead of being lighted and luminous throughout, it becomes darkness on the side turned to the Egyptians, and light on the side turned to the Israelites, so that the one could not come nigh the other. It was a shield now, as it had been a conductor before. It is just whatever the people wanted. This is the due account to give of it. This was its way. It expressed the grace of Him that had now saved Israel. It is alternate cloud and fire, if the camp need that; light and darkness at the very self-same moment, if they need that.
Exodus 13:21 gives us another type of the Spirit. Israel have been sheltered by the blood of the Passover Lamb in the land of Egypt, and have set out on their journey to the promised land. Before they cross the Red Sea, the Lord leads them by a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day. In like manner are those who have found shelter behind the blood of Christ, accompanied all their journey through. This Shekinah-cloud is ever with them, as the Holy Spirit abides with us forever. Let us notice too how His presence is manifest — in contrast with the surroundings; by day there is a cloud casting its shadow over them; in the darkness of the night a bright pillar of fire shines through the "encircling gloom." So is it with the Spirit and the believer. In the day-time of life, when the sun of prosperity shines brightly, the Spirit would ever remind us not to trust in these uncertain things; the world is a place of change and its brightest scenes are but the harbingers of coming sorrow. But in the night of affliction, when sorrow falls like a dark pall, and we see nothing here to rest upon, how brightly does the Spirit shine ever leading us on to the abode of God who is light.
Verses
- Exodus 13:21–2221And Jehovah went before their face by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them [in] the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; so that they could go day and night. 22The pillar of the cloud did not remove [from] before the people by day, nor the pillar of fire by night.
- Exodus 14:19–2019And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before them, and stood behind them. 20And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and was a cloud and darkness, and lit up the night; and the one did not come near the other all the night.
- Exodus 14:24And it came to pass in the morning watch, that Jehovah looked upon the camp of the Egyptians, in the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and embarrassed the camp of the Egyptians.
- Numbers 9:15–2315And on the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle of the tent of testimony; and at even it was upon the tabernacle as the appearance of fire, until the morning. 16So it was continually the cloud covered it, and at night it was as the appearance of fire. 17And when the cloud rose from the tent, then the children of Israel journeyed; and at the place where the cloud stood still, there the children of Israel encamped. 18According to the commandment of Jehovah the children of Israel journeyed, and according to the commandment of Jehovah they [remained] encamped; all the days that the cloud dwelt upon the tabernacle they encamped. 19And when the cloud was long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of Jehovah, and journeyed not. 20And if it were so that the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle, according to the commandment of Jehovah they encamped, and according to the commandment of Jehovah they journeyed. 21And if it were so that the cloud was there from the evening until the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed; or a day and a night, and the cloud was taken up, they journeyed; 22or two days, or a month, or many days, when the cloud was long upon the tabernacle, dwelling upon it, the children of Israel [remained] encamped, and journeyed not; but when it was taken up, they journeyed. 23At the commandment of Jehovah they encamped, and at the commandment of Jehovah they journeyed they kept the charge of Jehovah according to the commandment of Jehovah through Moses.