Where did the cloud that filled the tabernacle first appear, and what did it do at the Red Sea?
That cloud first appeared as Israel came out of Goshen and encamped by the Red Sea. There it shielded the Israelites from the Egyptian onslaught, turning to black darkness for the Egyptians and becoming a pillar of fire by night.
Les explains that after the whole tabernacle complex was completed and set up, the cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle, so that even Moses could not enter. Les identifies this as the presence of God, the Shekinah glory, and says it is the same cloud that made its first appearance when Israel was coming out of Goshen and encamped on the shores of the Red Sea. There the cloud was the only thing protecting them from the onslaught of the Egyptians. To the Egyptians it became black darkness, while to the Jews it was protection, and at night it became the pillar of fire. That same cloud now rested over the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was, and filled that back room of the tabernacle.
And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:
See the restAnd it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,
More Questions
Was the cloud over the tabernacle the same as the cloud at the Red Sea?
The cloud that came and rested over the tabernacle was the same cloud that first appeared when Israel came out of Goshen and encamped by the Red Sea.
Where did the cloud rest in the tabernacle, and what was in that room?
This same cloud now comes and rests over the Holy of Holies, in which is the Ark of the Covenant, and it literally fills that little back room of the tabernacle.