²¹ By day the Lord went ahead^(A) of them in a pillar of cloud^(B) to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.

³⁸ So the cloud^(A) of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.

The Cloud Above the Tabernacle

¹⁵ On the day the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant law,^(A) was set up,^(B) the cloud^(C) covered it. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire.^{(D) 16} That is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire.^(E)

³³ So they set out^(A) from the mountain of the Lord and traveled for three days. The ark of the covenant of the Lord^(B) went before them during those three days to find them a place to rest.^{(C) 34} The cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp.^(D)

¹⁴ And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard^(A) that you, Lord, are with these people^(B) and that you, Lord, have been seen face to face,^(C) that your cloud stays over them,^(D) and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.^(E)