The time had come for the Israelites to resume their journey when the people had celebrated the Passover. All that remained for the Israelites to know was how God would lead them. Moses recorded God's revelation of that in this section.
The cloudy pillar stood over the tabernacle (vv. 15-16). It does not appear to have covered the entire camp of Israel.
"Like the Tabernacle, Canaan would be a focal point of Yahweh's residence among men, the place where His sovereignty would find historical expression through His specially chosen people."77
The comparatively lengthy description of God's direction of Israel with the cloud (vv. 17-23) indicates God's sovereign and purposeful leadership of His people. The Israelites remained where they were just as long as God wanted them to remain there. Their experiences along the way were not accidental but providential. This description also expressed the "excitement of the occasion."78
The way the Israelites discovered how God was leading them was to look at the revelation of Himself that He provided in the cloud. He did not explain His movements, but their duty was to follow in faith.
"The writer is intent on showing that at this point in their walk with the Lord, Israel was obedient and followed the Lord's guidance. The writer's concern to make this point can be seen in that seven times in this brief narrative, it is said that they obeyed the commandment of the Lord' and thus traveled when the cloud lifted from the tabernacle and moved (9:18, 20, 23; cf. Ex 17:1)."79
The chapter closes with another reference to the Israelites' careful and exact obedience to Yahweh's instructions, an important theme in this book.
