Numbers 9:18

18 At the commandment of the Lord they marched, and at his commandment they pitched the tabernacle. All the days that the cloud abode over the tabernacle, they remained in the same place:

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: by day the cloud covered it, and by night as it were the appearance of fire.

17 And when the cloud that covered the tabernacle was taken up, then the children of Israel marched forward: and in the place where the cloud stood still, there they camped.

18 At the commandment of the Lord they marched, and at his commandment they pitched the tabernacle. All the days that the cloud abode over the tabernacle, they remained in the same place:

19 And if it was so that it continued over it a long time, the children of Israel kept the watches of the Lord, and marched not,

20 For as many days soever as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle. At the commandment of the Lord they pitched their tents, and at his commandment they took them down.