Deuteronomy 1:33

33 who went in the way before you to search you out a place to pitch your tents, with fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go, and with a cloud by day.

Deuteronomy 1:33 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 1:33

Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to
pitch your tents in
For when the cloud was taken up they journeyed, and when that rested, there they pitched their tents; and hereby they were directed to places the most convenient for water for them and their flocks, or for safety from those that might annoy them:

in fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go;
which otherwise they could not have found in dark nights, in which they sometimes travelled, and in, a wilderness where there were no tracks, no beaten path, no common way:

and in a cloud by day;
to shelter them from the scorching sun, where there were no trees nor hedges to shade them, only rocky crags and hills.

Deuteronomy 1:33 In-Context

31 and in the wilderness thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bore thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went until ye came into this place.
32 Yet with all this ye did not believe in the LORD your God,
33 who went in the way before you to search you out a place to pitch your tents, with fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go, and with a cloud by day.
34 And the LORD heard the voice of your words and was angry and swore, saying,
35 Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land, which I swore to give unto your fathers,
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010