Israel’s Camp Design

On the east, toward the sunrise, the divisions of the camp of Judah are to encamp under their standard. The leader of the people of Judah is Nahshon son of Amminadab. (Numbers 2:3); All the men assigned to the camp of Judah, according to their divisions, number 186,400. They will set out first. (Numbers 2:9); On the south will be the divisions of the camp of Reuben under their standard. The leader of the people of Reuben is Elizur son of Shedeur. (Numbers 2:10); All the men assigned to the camp of Reuben, according to their divisions, number 151,450. They will set out second. (Numbers 2:16); Then the tent of meeting and the camp of the Levites will set out in the middle of the camps. They will set out in the same order as they encamp, each in their own place under their standard. (Numbers 2:17); On the west will be the divisions of the camp of Ephraim under their standard. The leader of the people of Ephraim is Elishama son of Ammihud. (Numbers 2:18); All the men assigned to the camp of Ephraim, according to their divisions, number 108,100. They will set out third. (Numbers 2:24); On the north will be the divisions of the camp of Dan under their standard. The leader of the people of Dan is Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. (Numbers 2:25); All the men assigned to the camp of Dan number 157,600. They will set out last, under their standards. (Numbers 2:31); These are the Israelites, counted according to their families. All the men in the camps, by their divisions, number 603,550. (Numbers 2:32)

There are many sections in the Bible that seem all little use, or down right boring to read. For instance in Genesis 5, the genealogy from Adam to Noah, or here, where the tribes camped in relation to the tent of meeting. Yet, all scripture is God breathed, in other words every word, every verse is inspired by God. Nothing is there that shouldn’t be there. There is nothing missing and nothing in excess. God determined what should be in the Bible. For the person that studies or searches the scriptures, nuggets of gold are available for discovery. In the two examples, the within the genealogy of Adam to Noah is the story of man’s predicament and the gospel. Man is appointed mortal sorrow, but the blessed God shall come down teaching that his death shall bring the despairing comfort. Numbers 2 gives the layout of Israel’s camp whenever they stopped. Each tribe is to camp to the east, south, west, or north of the tent of meeting. Three tribes camped in each direction. For exam Judah is camped to the east, next to them is Issachar, and next to them is Zebulun. Draw a picture of this proportionately for the number of men in each tribe. An aerial view, or one their enemies might see from a hill or mountain top is that of the cross. Even back then, Jesus was central to God’s plans for Israel.