Numbers 9:18

18 At the order of the Lord the children of Israel went forward, and at the order of the Lord they put up their tents: as long as the cloud was resting on the House, they did not go away from that 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 And so it was at all times: it was covered by the cloud, and by a light as of fire by night.

17 And whenever the cloud was taken up from over the House, then the children of Israel went journeying on; and in the place where the cloud came to rest, there the children of Israel put up their tents.

18 At the order of the Lord the children of Israel went forward, and at the order of the Lord they put up their tents: as long as the cloud was resting on the House, they did not go away from that place.

19 When the cloud was resting on the House for a long time the children of Israel, waiting for the order of the Lord, did not go on.

20 Sometimes the cloud was resting on the House for two or three days; then, by the order of the Lord, they kept their tents in that place, and when the Lord gave the order they went on.