1 And YHVH spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
2 "Let the people of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time.
3 On the fourteenth day of this month, in the evening, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its ordinances you shall keep it."
4 So Moses told the people of Israel that they should keep the Passover.
5 And they kept the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that YHVH commanded Moses, so the people of Israel did.
The Passover represents moving from the consciousness of Materialism toward Spirituality or Spiritual Consciousness. The entire human psyche must be purified and raised toward the Spiritual.
6 And there were certain men who were unclean through touching the dead body of a man, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day; and they came before Moses and Aaron on that day;
7 and those men said to him, "We are unclean through touching the dead body of a man; why are we kept from offering YHVH's offering at its appointed time among the people of Israel?"
8 And Moses said to them, "Wait, that I may hear what YHVH will command concerning you."
10 "Say to the people of Israel, If any man of you or of your descendants is unclean through touching a dead body, or is afar off on a journey, he shall still keep the Passover to YHVH.
Thoughts that foster the cultural belief in death and materialism must be abandoned. However, even if they are present, the individual is to perform the work of spiritual purification and begin directing the thoughts toward God or Spirit.
11 In the second month on the fourteenth day in the evening they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
12 They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break a bone of it; according to all the statute for the Passover they shall keep it.
13 But the man who is clean and is not on a journey, yet refrains from keeping the Passover, that person shall be cut off from his people, because he did not offer YHVH's offering at its appointed time; that man shall bear his sin.
14 And if a stranger sojourns among you, and will keep the Passover to YHVH, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its ordinance, so shall he do; you shall have one statute, both for the sojourner and for the native."
As you may recall, the Passover symbolized our mentally leaving the material world behind and beginning a search for spiritual realities. To keep the Passover means to stick to that decision, to continue in our search for Truth. The stranger represents new ideas that come into our heads. If they are consistent with our new goals, if they "keep the Passover" then we should welcome them. The implication is that if they do not, we should ask them to leave.
15 On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony; and at evening it was over the tabernacle-like the appearance of fire until morning.
The cloud represents the Feminine side of us. The fire represents the Masculine. To be led in the direction of spiritual growth, we must follow a balance of the Feminine or Heart and the Masculine or Intellect. The two must work together. We must give each its due time. So we wait sometimes for the heart to grow and be ready for a further step and sometimes for the intellect.
16 So it was continually; the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.
We must be patient with each, no matter how long it takes.
17 And whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel encamped.
The Soul, or Feminine side of our being, is where the guidance for the work of spiritual purification comes from.
18 At the command of YHVH, the people of Israel set out, and at the command of YHVH, they encamped; as long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp.
19 Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the people of Israel kept the charge of YHVH, and did not set out.
The work of spiritual purification or “Great Work” requires patience. The soul must be ready for each new step in the process and we must proceed at that pace, not trying to force too much, too fast.
20 Sometimes, the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of YHVH they remained in camp; then according to the command of YHVH, they set out.
21 And sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning; and when the cloud was taken up in the morning, they set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud was taken up they set out.
22 Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out; but when it was taken up they set out.
23 At the command of YHVH, they encamped, and at the command of YHVH they set out; they kept the charge of YHVH, at the command of YHVH, by Moses.
The Great Work proceeds according to the pace set by the Soul and Spirit (YHVH). The practitioner will know instinctively when the next step is to be taken.