Arrangement of the tribes for their journeys
2
And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 📚“Each man of the children of Israel shall camp by his own standard, with the banner of their father’s household. They shall camp around the tabernacle of the congregation, at a distance. 3 📚Those of the standard of the camp of Judah shall camp according to their armies on the east side, toward the sunrise. And Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall be the leader of the children of Judah. 4 📚And his army, its numbered men: seventy-four thousand six hundred.
5 📚And those of the tribe of Issachar shall camp next to him, and Nethaneel the son of Zuar shall be the leader of the children of Issachar. 6 📚And his army, its numbered men: fifty-four thousand four hundred.
7 📚The tribe of Zebulun comes next, and Eliab the son of Helon shall be the leader of the children of Zebulun. 8 📚And his army, its numbered men: fifty-seven thousand four hundred.
9 📚All the numbered men in the camp of Judah: a hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred, by their armies. These shall set out first.
10 📚On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben according to their armies; and the leader of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur. 11 📚And his army, its numbered men: forty-six thousand five hundred.
12 📚And those of the tribe of Simeon shall camp next to him; and the captain of the children of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 13 📚And his army, its numbered men: fifty-nine thousand three hundred.
14 📚The tribe of Gad comes next; and the leader of the sons of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel. 15 📚And his army, its numbered men: forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.
16 📚All the numbered men in the camp of Reuben: a hundred and fifty one thousand four hundred and fifty, by their armies. And they shall set out second.
17 📚Then the tabernacle of the congregation shall set out with the camp of the Levites in the middle of the camps. They shall set out just as they camp, each man in his place by their standards.
18 📚The standard of the camp of Ephraim shall be on the west side by their armies; and the leader of the sons of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud. 19 📚And his army, its numbered men: forty thousand five hundred.
20 📚And next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh; and the leader of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 21 📚And his army, its numbered men: thirty-two thousand two hundred.
22 📚Then the tribe of Benjamin; and the leader of the sons of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni. 23 📚And his army, its numbered men: thirty-five thousand four hundred.
24 📚All the numbered men of the camp of Ephraim: a hundred and eight thousand one hundred, by their armies. And they shall set out third.
25 📚The standard of the camp of Dan shall be on the north side by their armies; and the leader of the children of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 26 📚And his army, its numbered men: sixty-two thousand seven hundred.
27 📚And those of the tribe of Asher shall camp next to him, and the leader of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ocran. 28 📚And his army, its numbered men: forty-one thousand five hundred.
29 📚Then the tribe of Naphtali; and the leader of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan. 30 📚And his army, its numbered men: fifty-three thousand four hundred.
31 📚All the numbered men in the camp of Dan: a hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred. They shall go last with their standards.
2:1-31 The tabernacle, God’s dwelling place, was in the center of the camp. This signifies God’s centrality for His people. Surrounding the tabernacle were the Levites. Then on all four sides were the rest of the tribes, each in its own place and each with its leader. God is a God of order (1 Cor 14:33). He wants everything and everyone in the proper place. In this age of the church He sets each believer where he should be in the church, Christ’s body (1 Cor 12:18), and gives to each one his or her work (Rom 12:3-8; 1 Cor 12:7; Eph 2:10).⚜
32 📚These were the numbered men of the children of Israel by the households of their fathers. All the numbered men of the camps by their armies were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. 33 📚But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel, just as the LORD commanded Moses.
34 📚And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses. They camped by their standards like that, and they set out like that, each one according to their families, according to the households of their fathers.