15 Now on the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the Testimony; from evening until morning it was above the tabernacle like the appearance of fire. 16 So it was always: the cloud covered it [by day], and the appearance of fire by night. 17 Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, after that the children of Israel would journey; and in the place where the cloud settled, there the children of Israel would pitch their tents. 18 At the command of the LORD the children of Israel would journey, and at the command of the LORD they would camp; as long as the cloud stayed above the tabernacle, they remained encamped. - Num 9:15-19 NKJV
A tabernacle is a covering, dwelling place, home, or a tent. This particular tabernacle was the Lord’s house and the ark of the Covenant was kept in it. The ark was a symbol of the glory and presence of God. The tabernacle was mobile and was designed to be moved, torn down and reconstructed after being transported to a different location.
Apostle Paul compares our bodies to a tent, For we know that if our earthly house, [this] tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. - 2Co 5:1 We are now the tabernacle of God, But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don't need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true--it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ. - 1Jo 2:27 NLT
Moses and the Israelites were brought out of captivity into the wilderness, and it is the same for us at times. We leave a situation of captivity only to find ourselves wondering around in the wilderness in need of God's direction. We need to be led by the Spirit of the living God with a willingness to move when He says move in our hearts. The Holy Spirit is our teacher and He will tell us what we need to know and not necessarily what we want to know. If it is time to move, He will say so, and it will be according to the will of the Father.
The Hebrew word for journey is naw-say’ and it means to pull up, go, or set aside. The life of an Israeli in those days was one of movement in which they walked many miles a day in the elements of the desert, yet the Bible tells us they were covered by the cloud of God’s glory by day, and at night the appearance of fire lit their way. Sometimes we must move in the darkness and trust that God will light up our steps. To walk in the dark requires an adjustment to the environment, as our eyes adjust to the dark in the natural and we can see enough to get by so the Lords light will give our spiritual eyes sight when darkness surrounds us.
Sometimes God asks us to move on and set aside what we are doing and get going towards something He has called us to do. Usually, this c