Devarim 1:33

33 Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in eish by lailah, to show you by what way ye should go, and in an anan (cloud) by day.

Devarim 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.

Devarim 1:33 In-Context

31 And in the midbar, where thou hast seen how that Hashem Eloheicha did bear thee, as a man doth carry his ben, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place.

32 Yet in this thing ye were not ma’aminim (believers) in Hashem Eloheichem,

33 Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in eish by lailah, to show you by what way ye should go, and in an anan (cloud) by day.

34 And Hashem heard the sound of your words, and was angry, and on oath, said,

35 Surely there shall not one of these men of this dor harah see ha’aretz hatovah, which I swore to give unto Avoteichem.