Numbers: Pack It Up

As a young man, I considered joining the circus. When it came to town, I loved watching the setup and teardown more than the acts inside the tent. The process was a massive exercise in precise logistics, and while the workers weren’t the colorful entertainers, they were artists in their own right.

Sometimes, we imagine the Tent of Meeting during the Wilderness years as a simple tent, like the ones we use today. But it was more than that. It symbolized the nation, much like the White House or Buckingham Palace. Thousands of men worked full-time to maintain it and its contents, with one tribe—the Levites—tasked with serving as the caretakers of the Tent of Meeting.

After two years of camping at Sinai, the Israelites were commanded to move. They likely didn’t realize they would be wandering for the next 38 years. Over 8,500 men were assigned to transport the tent. Poles, curtains, frames, posts, pegs, and ropes all had to be packed up. The tent itself required 2,750 men to carry it. The entire tribe was responsible for this single task.

Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out. Wherever it settled, they encamped. Sometimes the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for a month, or even a year; other times, it remained for only a few days, or less than a full day. When the cloud moved, the people had to pack up and follow.

It’s not unlike today in the logistics of rock concerts.

Beyoncé’s Formation tour across Europe required 7 Boeing 747 cargo planes and 70 trucks to transport all the stage equipment between countries. Each tour stop took four days to set up. An additional 25 trucks carried production equipment, including the video operation, which was housed under the stage. Overall, around 300 people—150 local workers and 150 who traveled with the tour—helped with the production.

Now, imagine something that requires a crew of more than 8,500 to tear down, transport, and set up. No wonder the Israelites began to grumble about their working conditions.

But the physical labor was not the only challenge. The uncertainty of where they were going added to their hardship. They never knew how long they would stay in one place, and could rarely settle in before the next move.

Years might pass, and then the pillar of cloud would begin to move again, without warning. They were pilgrims—and so are we. Andrew MacLaren wrote: "And so our lives are shuttlecocked between uniform sameness, which may become mechanical monotony, and agitation by change, which may make us lose our hold on fixed principles and calm faith, unless we recognize that both the continuance and the change are alike the will of the guiding God, whose will is signified by the stationary or moving pillar."

So, just when we want to take the wheels off the mobile home, God says, “Up and away. We’ve been here long enough.”

Our response is often the same. For some, the thrill is in the journey itself. Like true roadies, they’re never quite comfortable staying in one place for too long. The excitement comes from the tearing down, moving, and setting up again.

For others, it’s a challenge. They long to settle down—to find a church, a school, a favorite restaurant, to make friends, and put down roots. They might complain, but they pick up and move because they have committed to the journey.

For some, it’s nothing but grumbling and complaining: “I’ve had enough of moving. I want to be in charge now.”

But, of course, it’s not just about physical moves, is it? We all settle into certain ways of thinking and believing. We cling to biases that feel like the best version of truth, and when God disturbs our comfort or challenges our certainty, we feel unsettled and insecure. We want things to be defined, clear, and without the discomfort of change. There are certainly eternal truths, but life is full of uncertainties and unexpected twists.

That’s when we need to fall back on the truth that we are conscripts on a mission. As Paul says, our lives are not our own. We are in the service of a King, and when He says, "Move on"—whether from a place, an idea, a loved tradition, or even a fundamental belief—we are called to obey.

"At the Lord’s command, they encamped, and at the Lord’s command, they set out. They obeyed the Lord’s order, in accordance with His command through Moses."

May it be so for us.

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Art by Thomas Hart Benton

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