Numbers 9:18

18 At the commandment of the LORD the sons of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the LORD they pitched camp; as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle, they rested.

Numbers 9:18 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 9:18

At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel
journeyed
Or "mouth of the Lord"; not that there was any command in form given, or any audible voice heard, directing when to march; but the removal of the cloud was interpretatively the order and command of God for them to move also:

and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched;
their tents; when the cloud stopped, they understood that as a signal to them, as a token of the will of God that they should stop likewise; it was to them as an authoritative command, which they obeyed:

as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle, they rested in their
tents;
whether a longer or a shorter time, as is after expressed.

Numbers 9:18 In-Context

16 So it was always: the cloud covered it, and the appearance of fire by night.

17 And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the sons of Israel journeyed; and in the place where the cloud abode, there the sons of Israel pitched their tents.

18 At the commandment of the LORD the sons of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the LORD they pitched camp; as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle, they rested.

19 And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the sons of Israel kept the charge of the LORD and did not journey.

20 And so it was, when the cloud was a determined number of days upon the tabernacle, according to the commandment of the LORD they camped, and according to the commandment of the LORD they journeyed.