The Lord went before them— There can be no doubt that the Jehovah here mentioned was the same blessed Person who appeared to Moses in the bush; who conducted the Israelites through the wilderness; whom they there tempted; and who, St. Paul tells us expressly, was Christ, 1 Corinthians 10:9. This glorious and divine Leader graciously went before, and conducted them in their march; the shechinah or symbol of the Divine Presence continually attending them: for fire and cloud were the constant and acknowledged symbols of the Divine Presence, It is called a pillar of cloud or fire, עמוד amud, a pillar or column, supported or sustained in a miraculous manner by Jehovah. By this pillar of cloud and fire, the Israelites directed all their motions: it deserted them not as long as Moses lived, nor till they passed over Jordan into Canaan; it was a continual and lively monitor of the presence and protection of Jehovah; see Isaiah 4:5-6. Nor can their absurdity be sufficiently admired, who would insinuate, that a phaenomenon of this kind, observed for so long a period, and by so many thousand people, could have been the contrivance of Moses, and a mere natural effect. No miracle, one would have thought, could have been more solidly and substantially established; for the children of Israel, murmuring and dissatisfied as they constantly were, shewed themselves always well-disposed to have detected Moses in an imposture, if he had used any: so that we cannot conceive how it is possible for a miraculous fact to be ascertained more clearly and indisputably. It is an ingenious conjecture of a commentator (Taubman) upon Virgil, that it arose from this miracle of God's appearing in cloud and fire, that the poets never made a deity to appear, but in a cloud with a brightness in it. See Parker's Occasional Annotation, 6.
Behold here God's care of his people in the way. His presence was with them: he appeared visibly to them in a pillar of a cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night; to be their Leader in the pathless wilderness, their covering from the heat by day, and their cheering light and warmth by night: nor did he ever leave them till they were safely lodged in Canaan. Blessed be God, the same care is promised to us. In our journey through this world, Jesus, by his word and spirit, is our Guide and Comforter, our Light and Protector; and under his direction and influence we shall be led by the right way: nor need we fear danger or miscarriage, when he saith, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Happy the soul that walks thus!
Reflections on the pillar of cloud and fire.
The sojourners of Goshen were now escaped from the land of Egypt, and about to enter into the vast wilderness of Arabia, which interposed between them and the promised land. Jehovah, who makes the clouds his chariots, and darkness his pavilion, was pleased to go before them in a marvellous pile of cloudy vapours, resembling a pillar, ascending from their camp. Here he dwelt, not for a short time as in the bush, but for the space of forty years. A most extraordinary thing! and none of the least of the standing miracles which he shewed to the chosen seed. The fame of this strange phaenomenon was spread abroad among the nations, who heard that the cloud of the Lord stood above the camp of the Israelites; it might, therefore, be very well supposed to move the question, "Who is this that comes up from the wilderness like pillars of smoke?" Song of Solomon 3:6. For this cloud differed so much from all others that ever were seen, that it may justly be reckoned a complication of miracles. It was miraculous, that its form was never changed, when there is nothing more variable than the appearance of the ordinary clouds which sail through the airy regions. It was miraculous, that it should always maintain its station over the tabernacle, when other clouds are carried about with tempests, and driven with fierce winds from the one extremity of heaven to the other. It was miraculous, that it should preserve its consistency forty years; whereas all other clouds are dissipated by the wind, exhaled by the sun, or dissolved in rain and dew, and in a very short time are blotted from the face of the sky. It was miraculous, that this cloud should move in such peculiar directions, as if it had been endued with instinct and intelligence; for it was carried about by the counsels of Jehovah, in a more immediate way than can be said of the other clouds of heaven. But especially it was miraculous, that, contrary to the nature of all other clouds, it should be brighter by night than by day, when it had the appearance of the shining of a flaming fire.
As to the particular meaning of this cloud wherewith the Lord covered his Israel, not in his anger, but in his love, it was without all doubt a visible symbol of a present Deity: God hereby condescending to adapt himself, as in many other things, to the rude taste of that ancient people; and perhaps to signify the dark and cloudy nature of the legal dispensation under which they were. But the principal reason I would suggest is the following: His appearing to Israel in a veil of cloud, might be a prelude to his appearing in a veil of flesh. What if we should say, this pillar of cloud and fire is an emblem of that glorious Person, in whom the brightness of Divinity is joined with the darkness of humanity? For as there were not two pillars, the one of cloud, and the other of fire, but one pillar both of cloud and fire; so there are not two persons of Immanuel, the one God and the other man, but one Person, who is both God and Man. An adorable mystery! strange indeed, and beyond measure surprising! But it is so far from being only a vain speculation, that it is deservedly esteemed a fundamental article of the Christian faith; and truly, without admitting it, the Scriptures themselves would be darker than this cloud ever was to the Egyptians.
John, the beloved apostle, and great New Testament prophet, who saw the visions of God, and who talks in many places in the Old Testament dialect, speaks of a glorious Angel arising out of the East, who certainly was Christ himself: he was clothed with a cloud, and his feet were as pillars of fire; a description which might very probably allude to this same cloud and fire. But if we take a more particular survey of the uses for which it served in the wilderness, we shall see with what admirable propriety they all may be affirmed of Jesus Christ, who, indeed, was the Angel that resided in the cloud, and is that to his church, in every age in their bewildered state, which the cloud was to the twelve tribes till they reached the promised land. For in whom but Jesus Christ can we suppose that great and precious promise made to the universal church to have received its accomplishment, "And the Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of Mount Zion, and upon all her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for, upon all, the lory shall be a defence." Isaiah 4:5. What then were those uses for which this cloud served the Israelites?
It was their guide, which went before them in the vast pathless desert, where they wandered in a solitary way. So great was the regard they paid to all its motions, which they continually watched, that when it moved, they struck their camp at any hour of the day or of the night; when it halted, they pitched their tents, and there abode till its next remove, whether the time was short or long. The times and seasons of their marching were not, as in other armies, adjusted by their councils of war, nor left to the regulation even of Moses himself; for God put them wholly in his own power. We doubt not that all its motions were properly timed, and mercifully proportioned to the strength of the weak, and the conveniency of all. Nor did it ever leave them, for all their provocations in the wilderness, till they arrived at the land which flowed with milk and honey. Just such a general, unerring, gentle and perpetual guide is Jesus Christ, by his example, word, and spirit, to all the travellers for the better country through the wilderness of this world; for "it is not in man that walks to direct his steps," Jeremiah 10:23 by his own wisdom in the way which leads to life. Who can recount the wanderings of miserable sinners, till Jesus Christ was given as a Leader and a Commander to the people? He it is who teaches us to profit, and leads us in the way wherein we should go. Nor is it possible that any should miss eternal glory who walk after him in the wilderness, conforming themselves to the dictates of his holy word, with the same care as the Israelites observed the motions of the miraculous cloud. O ye followers of the Lamb, you shall not err under the conduct of your celestial Guide: you shall be led forth in the way which is right, even where there is no way, till you come to the city of habitation!
It was their guard, which protected them when their Egyptian pursuers were pressing on their rear; for it removed on that occasion from their van, and went behind them, forbidding, by its darkness, the approach of the hostile army all that night on which they travelled through the flood on foot. On this occasion, we are told, the Lord looked through the pillar, and troubled the Egyptian host at the hour of midnight. "The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled. The clouds poured out water; the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows went abroad. The voice of thy thunder was in the heavens: the lightnings lightened the world, the earth trembled and shook. Thy way was in the sea, thy path in the mighty waters, and thy footsteps were not known. Thou leddest thy people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron;" Psalms 77:16-20. Such is the protection Jesus affords his militant people, who, being rescued from the bondage of sin, are marching forward to their goodly inheritance. Though Satan, with his infernal host, like the tyrant of Egypt, pursues them, and fondly thinks to reclaim the captives, the glory of the Lord becomes their rearward; Jesus is unto them for walls and bulwarks, forbidding the approach of mortal danger. He is their hiding-place, in whom they are preserved, like Israel in the cloud, being kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.
It was their candle, which enlightened their darkness, which smoothed the rugged brow of the night, and served to abate the horrors of the wilderness after the sun was set; for it reserved its shining appearance to the season when the Israelites were most in need of its cheerful aspect. Nor dost thou, O thou true Light, suit thyself to the case of thy people with less condescension. Without thee, this world were a dark place, and, to the eyes of our mind, more dismal than the dreary wilderness would have been in the blackest night to the Israelites, without their kind officious cloud. Blessed be God for the sun, the moon, the stars: but more for Jesus Christ, who delivers from the blackness of darkness for ever; and who, like the cloudy pillar, is always most liberal of his lightsome manifestations when his people are sitting in the darkness of adversity. House of Israel, let us walk in this light of the Lord; while the way of the wicked, like the way of the Egyptians, is as darkness.
It was their umbrella, or screen, to shade them from the sultry beams of the sun in that torrid wilderness. A most grateful service! And, whereas an apostle speaks of our fathers being baptized in the cloud, it would seem, that on some occasions this beneficial cloud refreshed the Israelites, by shedding kindly dews upon their camp. So Jesus Christ is to his people as a refreshing dew upon the grass, and as a cloud of the latter rain. Under his shadow they fit down with great delight, and find cool shelter from the scorching beams both of Divine wrath and worldly tribulation. Happy souls, who have thus the Lord for their Keeper, and for their shade on their right hand. "The sun shall not smite them by day, nor the moon by night;" Psalms 121:6. Even that great and terrible day, which shall burn like an oven, will be to these favoured of the Lord as the times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.
It was their oracle; for he spake unto them in the cloudy pillar. And it was their ornament; for he spread this cloud for their covering, or cloth of state, making darkness not only his own, but their pavilion. How fitly both these may be applied to Jesus Christ is not difficult to see. Who but Christ is the oracle of his church; in whom God speaks unto his people, both as a promising and prayer-answering God, without whom we should not have heard his voice at any time, but in the language of terror! Who but Christ is their ornament, making them terrible as an army with banners, and comely as Jerusalem? The pillar of cloud and fire was not half so adorning to their camp, as is thy gracious presence to every assembly and every dwelling-place of Mount Sion, O thou glorious Redeemer! Even now thou are the light of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel: but how much more when this imperfect scene shall pass away, and they shall know the import of that most gracious promise, "The Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and thy God thy glory." Isaiah 60:19.