13th July 2024

The Camping Cross

And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron . . .

Numbers 2:1

The cross has become a much-loved symbol throughout the world, representing the ultimate self-sacrifice of that moment that sin was paid for on the cross by Jesus Christ. It reminds believers of Heaven and Earth meeting, grace and righteous, and the event that all previous sacrifices had been pointing towards for centuries. But, did you know, that the shape of the cross was first used in the Old Testament by the Hebrews when camping in the desert, when the Israelites pitched their tents nightly in the shape of a cross?

In the Numbers 2, God gives clear instructions about where each tribe should pitch their tents in the four directions of the compass: three tribes to the north, three to the south, three to the east, and three to the west. But what is interesting is that the number of people in each tribe was not equal. What we find in total are:64,600 + 54,400 + 57,400 (Judah, Issachar and Zebulun, to the East) = 186,40046,500 + 59,300 + 45,650 (Reuben, Simeon and Gad, to the South) = 151,45040,500 + 32,200 + 35,400 (Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin, to the West) = 108,100 62,700 + 41,500 + 53,400 (Dan, Asher and Naphtali, to the North) = 157,600

If you represent these numbers in centimeters, and try to draw it, you wll form a cross (18.6cm, 10.8cm, 15.1cm and 15.7cm). The “bottom” of the cross are the more numerous tribes of Judah, Issachar and Zebulun, stretching out to the East, and the top are Rachel’s offspring, camped in tents that reach over to the West, with two arms of camps of similar number branching out North and South. Is this a coincidence?

I do not believe it is. God is not in the business of doing coincidences. He gave the increase to the tribes as He saw fit, and He arranged them around His tabernacle like that on purpose. Israel was moving around the desert, following their God in the cloud, and making the formation of a cross wherever they set up camp.

What we have, in Numbers 2, is a picture of the cross in the Old Testament. However, in the New Testament, God's plan was to use the cross for the means of salvation. Your salvation!

Bible Reading

Numbers 2:1-32.

Prayer

How wonderful it is, Lord God, to see these symbol in the Old Testament, that find their full meaning in the New Testament and in the work of Your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.