Numbers 2:34 –
So the people of Israel did everything as the LORD had commanded Moses. Each clan and family set up camp and marched under their banners exactly as the LORD had instructed them.
This chapter is a little dry, since it’s just laying out the arrangements of the camp. It places the Tabernacle and each tribe to ensure protection. Interesting as you read this the Lord instructed them to set up an ideal defensive position around the Tabernacle so they could protect it from any kind of attack. This is not just a few families camping together in a state park! When your look at just the numbers of warriors being 603k, it gives you an idea of how large the rest of the group is! Even if there was just one extra person per warrior, you have well over a million people trying to set up camp. I would estimate that number to be much larger more like up to 3 million.
Now the last verse caught my eye since you had this large number of people do “everything as the Lord had commanded”! I assume this was only for the camp, since we have stories of Moses and the Lord getting upset at them. Think of the magnitude and the obedience that must have been going on, since this was not a week-long trip! No this trip ended up being 40 years and the people did as they were told. How many of us would be chasing a “promise” for 40 years?
It’s easy to say Moses did as he was commanded, but millions of people all follow! That IS amazing! One key point that may be the reason for this obedience is the Tabernacle, which in a roundabout way is “heaven on earth.” The Tabernacle was set up to be an interface between man and God much like it will be in heaven. You can see the significance of this area, and therefore why the people would not question or complain when it came to protecting it. One thing to point out is how when Jesus died the curtain between the Most Holy Place was torn from the top down, like it was opened by God Himself!