Head in the Clouds

(21) ה׳ went before them in a pillar of cloud by day, to guide them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, that they might travel day and night.(22) The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.

(33) And he set up the enclosure around the Tabernacle and the altar, and put up the screen for the gate of the enclosure. When Moses had finished the work,(34) the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Presence of ה׳ filled the Tabernacle.(35) Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud had settled upon it and the Presence of ה׳ filled the Tabernacle.(36) When the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the Israelites would set out, on their various journeys;(37) but if the cloud did not lift, they would not set out until such time as it did lift.(38) For over the Tabernacle a cloud of ה׳ rested by day, and fire would appear in it by night, in the view of all the house of Israel throughout their journeys.

(15) On the day that the Tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the Tabernacle, the Tent of the Pact; and in the evening it rested over the Tabernacle in the likeness of fire until morning.(16) It was always so: the cloud covered it, appearing as fire by night.(17) And whenever the cloud lifted from the Tent, the Israelites would set out accordingly; and at the spot where the cloud settled, there the Israelites would make camp.(18) At a command of ה׳ the Israelites broke camp, and at a command of ה׳ they made camp: they remained encamped as long as the cloud stayed over the Tabernacle.(19) When the cloud lingered over the Tabernacle many days, the Israelites observed ה's mandate and did not journey on.(20) At such times as the cloud rested over the Tabernacle for but a few days, they remained encamped at a command of ה׳, and broke camp at a command of ה׳.(21) And at such times as the cloud stayed from evening until morning, they broke camp as soon as the cloud lifted in the morning. Day or night, whenever the cloud lifted, they would break camp.(22) Whether it was two days or a month or a year—however long the cloud lingered over the Tabernacle—the Israelites remained encamped and did not set out; only when it lifted did they break camp.

(13) But Moses said to ה׳, “When the Egyptians, from whose midst You brought up this people in Your might, hear the news,(14) they will tell it to the inhabitants of that land. Now they have heard that You, ה׳, are in the midst of this people; that You, ה׳, appear in plain sight when Your cloud rests over them and when You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.

(32) Yet for all that, you have no faith in your God ה׳,(33) who goes before you on your journeys—to scout the place where you are to encamp—in fire by night and in cloud by day, in order to guide you on the route you are to follow.

(6) Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel, among those who call on His name, when they called to the LORD, He answered them.(7) He spoke to them in a pillar of cloud; they obeyed His decrees, the law He gave them.

(1)And the Lord went before them by day (Exod. 13:21). You find that there were seven clouds of glory in all. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud (ibid.) was the first; and Thy cloud standeth over them (Num. 14:14) was the second; In a pillar of cloud (ibid.) was the third; That the cloud tarried (Num. 9:22), the fourth; And the going up of the cloud (Exod. 40:36), the fifth; And whenever the cloud was taken up (ibid., 37), the sixth; and For the cloud of the Lord was upon the Tabernacle (ibid., v. 38) was the seventh. Four of the clouds were at each of the four sides; one was above them, another below them, and the seventh cloud preceded them. The last of the clouds lowered the high places, raised the low places, burnt the serpents and the scorpions, and sprinkled the road (to lay the dust) before them.

(17) "the pillar of cloud traveled from in front of them" (Exodus 14:19) - who is this pillar of cloud? Rabbi Yosey said: this is the cloud that is always seen with the Shechina. And this is the cloud to which Moshe went into (see Ex. 19:9 and Ex. 20:18). Rabbi Abba said: it is written "and Ad-nai walks in front of them during the day" (Ex. 13:21) - rather (the cloud) is the help of the righteous (yesod), and expands the righteous's mark, and that is why this cloud goes during the day, and it is written (Ps. 42:9) "during the day Ad-nai orders His lovingkindness (chesed)." And this cloud is from the side of chesed, and a different cloud goes at night, and it is called 'pillar of fire'.
(18) Rabbi Shimeon said: "pillar of cloud during the day" (Ex. 13:22): this is Avraham (chesed). "And pillar of fire during the night": this is Itzchak (gevurah). And both of them are found in the Shechinah, and what Rabbi Abba said (yesod) is certainly obvious, that on through this, at this level, they are found.
(19) And this "the angel of El-him traveled, the one that goes in front of the camp of Israel, and went behind them" (Ex. 14:19). "And he traveled" - that he moved from the side of chesed and clung to the side of gevurah, in this way the time came to enrobe in Din.

When they were walking, Onkelos said to the troop of Roman soldiers: I will say a mere statement to you: A minor official holds a torch before a high official, the high official holds a torch for a duke, a duke for the governor, and the governor for the ruler. Does the ruler hold a torch before the common people? The soldiers said to Onkelos: No. Onkelos said to them: Yet the Holy One, Blessed be He, holds a torch before the Jewish people, as it is written: “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light” (Exodus 13:21). They all converted.

(5) The LORD will create over the whole shrine and meeting place of Mount Zion cloud by day and smoke with a glow of flaming fire by night. Indeed, over all the gloryshall hang a canopy (chuppah),(6) which shall serve as a pavilion (sukkah) for shade from heat by day and as a shelter for protection against drenching rain.

for, in addition to every honor (over all the glory) stated to them, shall be a shelter, for I will cause My Shechinah to cover them. Seven chupoth are mentioned here: cloud, smoke, splendor, fire, flame, shelter, Shechinah.

(16) Gather the people, bid the congregation purify themselves. Bring together the old, gather the babes and the sucklings at the breast; Let the bridegroom come out of his chamber, the bride from her canopied couch (her chuppah).

See what is written (Exodus 26:1), "As for the Tabernacle, make it of ten curtains." But in the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will make a canopy from clouds of glory for each and every righteous person, as it is stated (in Is. 4:5), "The Lord will create over the whole shrine and meeting place of Mount Zion cloud by day and smoke with a glow of flaming fire by night; indeed over all the glory shall hang a canopy." And why is smoke in the canopy? Since anyone whose eyes were smoky and stingy with his students in this world will have his canopy filled with smoke in the world to come. Why is there fire in the canopy? [It is coming to] teach that each and every righteous person is lit up from the canopy of his fellow, that is more elevated than he; with light the radiance of which shines from [one] end of the world to the [other] end.

As it is taught in a baraita that the verse states: “I made the children of Israel to reside in sukkot”; these booths were clouds of glory, this is the statement of Rabbi Eliezer. Rabbi Akiva says: They established for themselves actual sukkot.

(1) On Sukkot we shall dwell for 7 days etc. Because in Sukkot I protected the children of Israel. These refer to the clouds of glory who protected them from all the intense heat and the sun of the desert.