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CLOUD
The Hebrew so rendered means "a covering," because clouds cover the sky. The word is used as a symbol of the Divine presence, as indicating the splendour of that glory which it conceals (Exo 16:10;33:9; Num. 11:25;12:5; Job 22:14; Psa 18:11). A "cloud without rain" is a proverbial saying, denoting a man who does not keep his promise (Prov. 16:15; Isa. 18:4;25:5; Jude 1:12). A cloud is the figure of that which is transitory (Job 30:15; Hos. 6:4). A bright cloud is the symbolical seat of the Divine presence (9:42, 9: 43; 1-Kings 8:10; 2-Chr 5:14; Ezek. 43:4), and was called the Shechinah (q.v.). Jehovah came down upon Sinai in a cloud (Exo 19:9); and the cloud filled the court around the tabernacle in the wilderness so that Moses could not enter it (Exo 40:34, Exo 40: 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" (Matt. 17:5;24:30; Acts 1:9, Acts 1: 11). False teachers are likened unto clouds carried about with a tempest (2-Pet 2:17). The infirmities of old age, which come one after another, are compared by Solomon to "clouds returning after the rain" (Eccl. 12:2). The blotting out of sins is like the sudden disappearance of threatening clouds from the sky (Isa. 44:22). Cloud, the pillar of, was the glory-cloud which indicated God's presence leading the ransomed people through the wilderness (Exo 13:22;33:9, 33: 10). This pillar preceded the people as they marched, resting on the ark (Exo 13:21;40:36). By night it became a pillar of fire (Num. 9:17).
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