The Trumpets in Numbers 10 Moved the People in One Order

The silver trumpets in Numbers 10 enabled a great multitude to hear the same signals and move in an established order. Israel did not follow the sound of the trumpets alone. They marched according to the cloud as it lifted and settled, and followed the ark of the covenant as it went ahead of them. Numbers 10 gives a detailed account of how the people assembled, set out, and rested together.

The Trumpet Calls Distinguished Assembly from Departure

The Lord told Moses to make two hammered silver trumpets. They were to be used for calling the congregation together and directing the camps to set out. When both trumpets were sounded, the entire congregation gathered before the entrance to the tent of meeting. When only one was sounded, the tribal leaders who commanded Israel’s divisions came to Moses.

There was also a distinct signal for departure. At the first alarm, the camps on the east side set out. At the second alarm, the camps on the south side departed. When the congregation was being assembled, the trumpets were sounded without the alarm. Although the same trumpets were used, the way they were blown determined who should gather and what they should do.

Those responsible for sounding the trumpets were also appointed in advance. The priests, the sons of Aaron, were entrusted with this duty. Assembly and departure were not decided by someone’s judgment in the moment. The command clearly established who would give the signal and who should move in response to each sound.

The trumpets were not used only for marching. When Israel went into battle against an enemy in their own land, they were to sound the alarm. On days of rejoicing, at appointed festivals, and at the beginning of each month, the trumpets were to be sounded over the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. In both settings, the passage connects the trumpet call with God remembering Israel. The trumpets sounded not only to direct the people’s movement, but also in times of war and worship.

The Commanded Order Became the Order of the March

On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle of the covenant law. The Israelites left the Desert of Sinai, and the cloud came to rest in the Desert of Paran. The passage explains that this was when they first set out according to the Lord’s command through Moses.

The camps did not all depart at once. The divisions belonging to the camp of Judah went first. Behind them, the Gershonites and Merarites, who were responsible for the tabernacle, set out carrying it. Next came the divisions of the camp of Reuben, followed by the Kohathites carrying the holy things. This order allowed those who had gone ahead to arrive and set up the tabernacle before the holy things reached the camp.

The divisions of the camp of Ephraim followed them. Finally, the divisions of the camp of Dan, which served as the rear guard for all the camps, set out. The leader of each tribe’s division is named. Verse 28 summarizes that this was the order in which the Israelite divisions marched. The signals and sequence established earlier were carried out exactly as commanded when the people began to move.

The Ark of the Covenant and the Cloud Went Ahead

Moses asked Hobab to travel with them. When Hobab said that he would return to his own land and people, Moses again urged him to come, asking him to be their eyes because he knew where they could camp in the wilderness. Moses sought the help of someone familiar with the way.

Yet in the march that followed, it was the ark of the covenant of the Lord that went foremost. When the people left the mountain of the Lord and traveled for three days, the ark went ahead of them to find a place for them to rest. By day, the cloud of the Lord was over the people as they marched. They walked in their appointed formation, but ahead of that formation was the ark, and over them was the cloud.

Whenever the ark set out, Moses asked the Lord to arise and scatter His enemies. Whenever it came to rest, he asked the Lord to return to Israel. Moses repeated these words at every departure and every rest. Israel’s journey was more than a change of location. The trumpets directed the movement of the community, each camp kept its appointed place, and the ark of the covenant and the cloud went ahead of the people throughout every departure and every rest.

To put this passage into practice today, read Numbers 10 and mark the words or scenes related to “assembly,” “departure,” “going ahead,” and “rest.” Then write down who carries out each action and the order in which it occurs. This will help you see clearly how a great multitude moved together in one order while the ark of the covenant went before them to find a place to rest.