I can remember as a child looking up and seeing bright beams of light in the night sky. It was really a spectacular display and certainly attracted attention from a wide viewing area. I found out that this was a sign of a grand opening of a new store or gas station or the premier showing of some movie, and that these beams in the sky were a form of advertising. The lights were produced by old WWI searchlights that were used by antiaircraft batteries to spot attacking bombers. From a distance the beams appeared to be pillars of fire.
When the Israelites fled from Egypt, God lead them with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The cloud and pillar of fire went with them as they wandered for forty years in the desert. "He spread a cloud for a covering; and a fire to give light in the night" (Ps. 105:39). "By day the cloud directed their journey, or spread as a canopy above the host. It served as a protection from the burning heat" (PP, p 282). The host of Israel numbered some 600,000 men, plus women and children, plus an undetermined number of a mixed multitude. There certainly was in excess of one million persons involved in the exodus. In addition there were "flocks and herds and very much cattle" (Ex. 12:34-39).
One can only speculate as to the size of such a camp; it must have covered an area of 500-700 square miles. That was some huge cloud, and it was no ordinary one for it moved and stopped according to divine direction. Is this the same cloudy chariot that is mentioned elsewhere in Scripture in connection with the ascension of Elijah and Jesus? This same celestial chariot is used to transport Jesus in His return to earth. "Soon appeared the great white cloud.... This cloud. when it first appeared, was the sign of the Son of man in heaven. The voice of the Son of God called forth the sleeping saints, clothed with glorious immortality. The living saints were changed in a moment, and were caught up with them into the cloudy chariot. It looked all over glorious as it rolled upward. On either side of the chariot were wings , and beneath it wheels" (EW, p 35). This cloudy chariot that receives the redeemed of all the ages must be immense, probably miles in diameter with several decks. Could this be the cloud that covered the host of Israel and furnished some kind of energy beam for a pillar of fire?
Isaiah gives us a beautiful picture of the cloud and pillar of fire representing God's care for His people in the great final struggle with the powers of evil (Isa. 4:5,6). What a comforting passage for God's people in these last days to know that God is protecting and guiding them with a cloud and "a pillar of fire."
