The image of the clouds in the bible represents God’s presence, guidance, and protection.
The cloud symbolizes the Holy Spirit, who reveals and veils God’s glory and guides believers into a deeper understanding of Christ.
The cloud is frequently associated with divine manifestations. It connects key moments in salvation history from the Old Testament, where the cloud led and shielded Israel, to the New Testament, where it overshadowed Jesus at His Transfiguration and took Him to heaven in His ascension.
This article explores the meaning of the cloud in the Bible, examining its role in divine revelation, protection, and the fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan.
Contents
The cloud symbolizes the Holy Spirit
The most well-known scene of the cloud symbolizing the Holy Spirit comes from Jesus’ transfiguration, which is a Trinitarian passage. The Son is transfigured on earth, the Holy Spirit as the cloud overshadows Jesus and his three disciples, and the Father speaks from the cloud, announcing, “This is My beloved Son.”
Luke 9:28-35
28 About eight days after these sayings, he took with him Peter, John, and James, and went up onto the mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became white and dazzling. 30 Behold, two men were talking with him, who were Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
32 Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory, and the two men who stood with him. 33 As they were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let’s make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah,” not knowing what he said.
34 While he said these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered into the cloud. 35 A voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!”
Cloud symbolizes divine guidance
In the Old Testament, Israel was guided by a supernatural cloud during their escape from Egypt. The Israelites moved when the cloud moved and stopped whenever it stopped.
Exodus 13:21
Yahweh went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, that they might go by day and by night:
Cloud symbolizes divine protection
When the Egyptian army was pursuing the Israelites and came close to their camp just before the crossing of the Red Sea, the cloud moved from the front of the camp behind it and protected Israel from the enemy.
Interestingly, the cloud moves when the angel of God, better known as the Angel of the LORD, moves from the front behind the camp. Remember this detail, as it will help you connect Jesus’ life events and the cloud later in the article.
Exodus 14:19-20
The angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them, and stood behind them. It came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel. There was the cloud and the darkness, yet it gave light by night. One didn’t come near the other all night.
Cloud as God’s presence in the Bible
Exodus 13:21 says that God was in the pillar of the cloud guiding Israel. By the evening, the Israelites saw a pillar of fire in the cloud. The cloud is God’s glory cloud, a manifestation of God’s presence. Fire, bright light, and lighting are often described around or within the glory cloud.
Ezekiel mentions a great cloud when he describes God’s throne and glory in his heavenly vision in Ezekiel 1:4. There is lighting and brightness around the great cloud. In the middle of it, he sees glowing metal and fire, which describes God’s glory in Christ, as shown below in Ezekiel 26-28.
Read more about biblically accurate angels guarding God’s throne in Ezekiel 1.
Ezekiel 1:4.
I looked, and behold, a stormy wind came out of the north: a great cloud, with flashing lightning, and a brightness around it, and out of the middle of it as it were glowing metal, out of the middle of the fire.
In Ezekiel 1:26-28, a man (Jesus) is on the throne, and there is an appearance of glowing metal, fire, and brightness around Him. The brightness is like a rainbow in a cloud, and “this was the appearance of the likeness of Yahweh’s glory.”
Ezekiel 1:26-28
26 Above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone. On the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man on it above. 27 I saw as it were glowing metal, as the appearance of fire within it all around, from the appearance of his waist and upward; and from the appearance of his waist and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. 28 As the appearance of the rainbow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.
This was the appearance of the likeness of Yahweh’s glory.
You see the rainbow in the cloud in Genesis 9 when God makes an everlasting covenant with Noah and humanity. God promises not to destroy the world again with water and sets “a rainbow in the cloud.”
Usually, we hear that the sign of Noah’s covenant is a rainbow, but it is “a rainbow in the cloud.” It is mentioned three times in Genesis 9:13, 14, and 16: “I set my rainbow in the cloud,” “the rainbow will be seen in the cloud,” and “the rainbow will be in the cloud.”
It is not just a rainbow but “my rainbow in the cloud,” just like when Ezekiel describes God’s glory in heaven. So, the cloud symbolizes God’s presence, and His glory is in the cloud.
Genesis 9:13-16
I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be a sign of a covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud, 15 I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters will no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow will be in the cloud. I will look at it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
Cloud veils God’s glory
In Luke 9:28-35, Peter, John, and James witness God’s Kingdom on earth at Jesus’ transfiguration, which takes place on a mountain. The three disciples glimpse Jesus’ heavenly glory in front of them.
The passage says that the three disciples were heavy with sleep, but when they were fully awake, they saw Jesus’ glory and the two men who stood with Him.” The two men were Moses and Elijah, who also appeared “in glory” (verse 31). When the disciples were fully awake, they saw God’s Kingdom and glory. There was no veil between them and God’s glory.
When Peter starts to talk about worldly things such as making tents, presumably for resting/sleeping, the cloud comes and overshadows them, so that they can’t see the glory anymore. However, even if the cloud overshadows them, they can still hear God the Father guiding them and saying, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!”
When Moses goes up to Mt. Sinai, in Exodus 24:15-18, the Bible again speaks about God’s glory and the cloud. Moses ascends to the top of the mountain and enters into the cloud, where God gives him the Ten Commandments and the heavenly blueprints to the Tabernacle (Hebrews 8:5).
Exodus 24:15-18
15 Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 Yahweh’s glory settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. The seventh day he called to Moses out of the middle of the cloud. 17 The appearance of Yahweh’s glory was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. 18 Moses entered into the middle of the cloud, and went up on the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
See how God’s presence is a cloud for Moses but is “like devouring fire” to the Israelites, making the Golden Calf idol for themselves at the bottom of the mountain while Moses is on top.
You see the same thing happen when the Tabernacle is anointed and consecrated to use: God’s glory cloud fills it (Exodus 40:33-38), but when Nabad and Abihu go into the Tabernacle to offer strange fire before the Lord, a fire devours them (Leviticus 10:1-2).
When Moses went up to Mt. Sinai again after the Golden Calf incident, he saw God’s glory passing by him. After this, his face shone the brightness of the glory so much that the Israelites became afraid, and he had to wear a veil on his face while talking with them (Exodus 34).
Even this mere reflection of God’s glory was too much for sinful humans to behold directly. This is similar to the sun, which symbolizes God (Psalm 84:11) and Jesus Christ (Malachi 4:2, Revelation 1:16) in the Bible—just as staring directly into the sun can severely damage one’s eyes, so too is God’s glory overwhelming to human frailty.
This concept of veiling divine glory appears again in the Tabernacle and the Temple, where a veil separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place, shielding God’s manifest presence from direct human sight. Like the Tabernacle, Solomon’s Temple was also filled with a cloud when completed and consecrated (2 Chronicles 5).
The Son of Man coming with the clouds
When the Pharisees asked Jesus if He was the Christ, the Son of God, Jesus answered, “I am. You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of the sky.”
Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees quotes the Son of Man passage in Daniel 7, where “there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man” to the Ancient of Days, and dominion of the creation is given to Him.
Read more: Is Jesus God?
The Father sends Jesus and the Holy Spirit to their missions, the end goal of which is to bring man back to the Father as redeemed.
The mission of the Holy Spirit in the creation is to reveal the Son to man and empower the Son. The Holy Spirit convicts man and invites him to the Son, who brings him back to the Father through His mission in the Spirit.
When the first phase of man’s return to the Father was finished, Jesus came to the Father in Heaven triumphantly with the Holy Spirit, who had been with Him since His conception (Luke 1:35). The Holy Spirit also empowered Him to offer a spotless sacrifice on the cross (Hebrews 9:14) and resurrected Jesus (Romans 8:11) together with the other two persons of the Trinity.
The Holy Spirit is with Jesus throughout His life, and Jesus is with the Spirit and in the Spirit throughout His life. He ascended into glory (John 17:5) in front of the disciples, “and a cloud received him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9). The Holy Spirit, in the form of a cloud, takes Him to the presence of the Father, where He is glorified and seated “at the right hand of Power.”
“This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky, will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky.” (Acts 1:11)
Revelation 1:7
Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amen.
Clouds in the Bible conclusion
The cloud-filled mountain, Tabernacle, and Temple are all sacred places where God met and guided His people.
Read more: Mountains in the Bible & Biblical cosmology
The cloud, symbolizing the Holy Spirit, is the place where you can meet God. Once you enter the cloud and live in the Spirit, God will guide you and show you His will.
Pray today to the Holy Spirit that He will surround you like a cloud and show you the Father’s will and how you can advance the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
The cloud invites you to the Son.
The cloud will guide and protect you, as it did with Israel in the wilderness.
He reveals the glory of Christ as a light and beautiful peace-bringing rainbow to those living in the Spirit.