customary mode of
directing the movements of large bodies of men, whether caravans or
armies. In the case of an army a tall pole was erected in front of the
chief's tent, and from it a basket of fire was suspended, so that the
glare of it was visible by night, and its smoke by day. The head of a
marching column could thus be descried from a great distance, especially
in wide level tracts with little or no vegetation and few inequalities
of surface to interrupt the view. The distinctive peculiarity of the
Israelitish march was that Jehovah was in the fire, and that He alone
controlled its movements, and thereby the movements of the camp. When
the pillar of cloud left its place and advanced the tents were struck,
lest they should be separated, from Jehovah and be found unfaithful to
Him. During the whole course of their sojourn in the wilderness their
movements were thus controlled and ordered. The beacon-fire that led
them was unaffected by atmospheric influences. Dispelled by no gales,
and evaporated by no fiercest heat of the Eastern sun, it hovered in the
van of the host as the guiding angel of the Lord. The guidance it gave
was uninterrupted and unerring; it was never mistaken for an ordinary
cloud, never so altered its shape as to become unrecognisable. And each
night the flame shot up, and assured the people they might rest in
peace.

Two obvious characteristics of this guiding Light must be kept in view.

1. God's people were not led by a road already made and used, and which
they could have studied from beginning to end on a map before starting;
but they were led day by day, and step by step, by a living guide, who
chose a route never before trodden. In the morning they did not know
whether they were to go forward or back, or to stay where they were.
They had to wait in ignorance till their guiding pillar moved, and
follow in ignorance till it halted. Our passage through life is similar.
It is not a chart we are promised but a guide. We cannot tell where next
year or next month may be spent. We are not informed of any part of our
future, and have no means of ascertaining the emergencies which may try
us, the new ingredients which may suddenly be thrown into our life, and
reveal in us what till now has lain hidden and dormant. We cannot tell
by what kind of path we shall be led onwards to our end; and our
security from day to day consists not at all in this, that we can
penetrate the future, and see no dangers i