seat of the Divine presence (Ex.29:42, 43; 1 Kings 8:10; 2 Chronicles 5:14;
Ezekiel 43:4), and was called the Shechinah (q.v.). Jehovah came down
upon Sinai in a cloud (Exodus 19:9); and the cloud filled the court around
the tabernacle in the wilderness so that Moses could not enter it (Exodus
40:34, 35). At the dedication of the temple also the cloud “filled the house
of the Lord” (1 Kings 8:10). Thus in like manner when Christ comes the
second time he is described as coming “in the clouds” (Matthew 17:5;
24:30; Acts 1:9, 11). False teachers are likened unto clouds carried about
with a tempest (2 Peter 2:17). The infirmities of old age, which come one
after another, are compared by Solomon to “clouds returning after the rain”
(Ecclesiastes 12:2). The blotting out of sins is like the sudden
disappearance of threatening clouds from the sky (Isaiah 44:22).
Cloud, the pillar of, was the glory-cloud which indicated God’s presence
leading the ransomed people through the wilderness (Exodus 13:22; 33:9,
10). This pillar preceded the people as they marched, resting on the ark
(Exodus 13:21; 40:36). By night it became a pillar of fire (Numbers
9:17-23).