The LORD spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the Wilderness of Sinai, on the first day of the second month of the second year after Israel’s departure from the land of Egypt. (Numbers 1:1)

But the Levites were not registered with them by their ancestral tribe. For the LORD had told Moses, “Do not register or take a census of the tribe of Levi with the other Israelites. Appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, all its furnishings, and everything in it. They are to transport the tabernacle and all its articles, take care of it, and camp around it. Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever it is to stop at a campsite, the Levites are to set it up. Any unauthorized person who comes near it is to be put to death. “The Israelites are to camp by their military divisions, each man with his encampment and under his banner. The Levites are to camp around the tabernacle of the testimony and watch over it, so that no wrath will fall on the Israelite community.” The Israelites did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses. (Numbers 1:47-54)

On the day the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony, and it appeared like fire above the tabernacle from evening until morning. It remained that way continuously: the cloud would cover it, appearing like fire at night. Whenever the cloud was lifted up above the tent, the Israelites would set out; at the place where the cloud stopped, there the Israelites camped. At the LORD’s command the Israelites set out, and at the LORD’s command they camped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they camped. Even when the cloud stayed over the tabernacle many days, the Israelites carried out the LORD’s requirement and did not set out. Sometimes the cloud remained over the tabernacle for only a few days. They would camp at the LORD’s command and set out at the LORD’s command. Sometimes the cloud remained only from evening until morning; when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out. Or if it remained a day and a night, they moved out when the cloud lifted. Whether it was two days, a month, or longer, the Israelites camped and did not set out as long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle. But when it was lifted, they set out. They camped at the LORD’s command, and they set out at the LORD’s command. They carried out the LORD’s requirement according to his command through Moses. (Numbers 9:15-23)

God isn’t merely near you. He dwells within you.

Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own. (1 Corinthians 6:19)

Reflection Question: How can you look to Jesus first in the wilderness of this world?