The nation of Israel was organized according to tribes for several reasons, (1) It was an effective way to manage and govern a large group. (2) It made dividing the promised land easier. (3) It was part of their culture and heritage (people were not known by a last name, but by their family, clan, and tribe). (4) It made it easier to keep detailed genealogies, and genealogies were the only way to prove membership in God's chosen nation. (5) It made travel much more efficient. The people followed the tribe's standard (a kind of flag) and thus stayed together and kept from getting lost. (The Life Application Study Bible - NIV - Zondervan)
   The Hebrew word order stresses the role of the individual in the context of the community; each one was to know his exact position within the camp. The repetition of the verb "will encamp" is for stately stress. Here is the meaning of the individual in Israel, and here is the significance of his family.
   The people of Israel were a community that had their essential meaning in relationship to God and to one another. But ever in the community was the continuing stress on the individual to know where he belonged in the larger grouping. Corporate solidarity in ancient Israel was a reality of daily life; but the individual was also very important.
   The dwelling of the tribes was in a circuit about the shrine but at some distance from it. The protective grace of God demands a sufficient distance to serve as a protective barrier from untoward approach to the Divine Presence and the judgment of God that such an approach might provoke. Too casual an approach betrays too minimal a reverence.
   Each tribe had its banner and each triad (group of three) of tribes had its standard. Jewish tradition suggests that the tribal banners corresponded in color to the twelve stones in the breastplate of the high priest (Exodus 28:15-21) and that the standard of the triad led by Judah had the figure of a lion, that of Reuben the figure of a man, that of Ephraim the figure of an ox, and that of Dan the figure of an eagle (see Ezekiel 1:10; cross-reference Revelation 4:7).

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Cross-reference Exodus 28:15-21
   (15)"Fashion a breastpiece for making decisions - the work of a skilled craftsman. Make it like the ephod: of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. (16)It is to be square - a span long and a span wide - and folded double. (17)Then mount four rows of precious stones on it. In the first row there shall be a ruby, a topaz and a beryl; (18)in the second row a turquoise, a sapphire and an emerald; (19)in the third row a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst; (20)in the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx and a jasper. Mount them in gold filigree settings. (21)There are to be twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes..."

Cross-reference Ezekiel 1:10
   (10)Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a man, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle.

Cross-reference Revelation 4:7
(7)The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.

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   The eastern encampment. Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun were the fourth, fifth, and sixth of the six sons born to Jacob by Leah. It is somewhat surprising to have these three tribes first in the order of march since Reuben is regularly noted as Jacob's firstborn son (1:20). However, because of the perfidy of the older brothers, Judah is granted pride of place among his brothers.

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Cross-reference Genesis 49:3-7
     (3)"Reuben, you are my firstborn,
            my might, the first sign of my strength,
            excelling in honor, excelling in power.
     (4)Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel,
            for you went up onto your father's bed,
            onto my couch and defiled it.
     (5)"Simeon and Levi are brothers -
            their swords are weapons of violence.
     (6)Let me not enter their council,
            let me not join their assembly,
            for they have killed men in their anger
            and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
     (7)Cursed be their anger, so fierce,
            and their fury, so cruel!
            I will scatter them in Jacob
            and disperse them in Israel.

Cross-reference Genesis 49:8
     (8)"Judah, your brothers will praise you;
            your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
            your father's sons will bow down to you.

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   Judah becomes the royal line of the Messiah.

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Cross-reference Genesis 49:10
   (10)The scepter will not depart from Judah,
            nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
         until he comes to whom it belongs
            and the obedience of the nations is his.

Cross-reference Ruth 4:18-21
   (18)This, then, is the family line of Perez:

         Perez was the father of Hezron,
   (19)Hezron the father of Ram,
         Ram the father of Amminadab,
   (20)Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
         Nahshon the father of Salmon,
   (21)Salmon the father of Boaz,
         Boaz the father of Obed,...

Cross-reference Matthew 1:1-16
   (1)A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:

   (2)Abraham was the father of Isaac,
         Isaac the father of Jacob,
         Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
     (3)Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
         Perez the father of Hezron,
         Hezron the father of Ram,
     (4)Ram the father of Amminadab,
         Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
         Nahshon the father of Salmon,
     (5)Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
         Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
         Obed the father of Jesse,
     (6)and Jesse the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife,

     (7)Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
         Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
         Abijah the father of Asa,
     (8)Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
         Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
         Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
     (9)Uzziah the father of Jotham,
         Jotham the father of Ahaz,
         Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
   (10)Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
         Manasseh the father of Amon,
         Amon the father of Josiah,
   (11)and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

   (12)After the exile to Babylon:
         Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
         Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
   (13)Zerubbabel the father of Abiud,
         Abiud the father of Eliakim,
         Eliakim the father of Azor,
   (14)Azor the father of Zadok,
         Zadok the father of Akim,
         Akim the father of Eliud,
   (15)Eliud the father of Eleazar,
         Eleazar the father of Matthan,
         Matthan the father of Jacob,
   (16)and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was
         born Jesus, who is called Christ.

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   Further, the placement on the east is significant. East is the place of the rising of the sun, the source of hope and sustenance. Westward was the sea. Israel's traditional stance was with its back to the sea and the descent of the sun. The ancient Hebrews were not a sea-faring people. For Israel the place of pride was on the east. Hence there we find the triad of tribes headed by Judah, Jacob's fourth son and father of the royal house that leads to King Messiah.

   The southern encampment. Reuben, Jacob's firstborn son, leads the second triad, on the south. As one's stance in facing east has the south on the right hand, one senses a secondary honor given to the tribes associated with Reuben. He is joined by Simeon, the second son of Jacob by Leah. Levi, Leah's third son, is not included with the divisions of the congregation but is reserved the special function of the service of the tabernacle and the guarding of the precinct from the untoward actions of the rest of the community (see verse 17 and chapter 3). This triad is completed by Gad, the first son of Leah's maidservant Zilpah.

   The tent in the middle, representing God's presence within the heart of the camp, is a change from Exodus 33:7-11. Here the tent is inside the camp, and all Israel is positioned around the tent. Here he is continually in their midst. There is a sense here of the progressive manifestation of the presence of God in the midst of the people. First he is on the mountain of Sinai; then he comes to the tent outside the camp; then he indwells the tent in the midst of the camp. One day he would reveal himself through the Incarnation in the midst of his people (John 1:1-18); and, on a day still to come, there will be the full realization of the presence of the person of God dwelling in the midst of his people (Revelation 21:1-4).

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Cross-reference John 1:1-18
   (1)In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2)He was with God in the beginning.
   (3)Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (4)In him was life, and that life was the light of men. (5)The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
   (6)There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. (7)He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. (8)He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. (9)The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
   (10)He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. (11)He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. (12)Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - (13)children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
   (14)The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
   (15)John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " (16)From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. (17)For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (18)No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

Cross-reference Revelation 21:1-4
   (1)Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. (2)I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. (3)And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. (4)He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

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   This verse relates not only to the manner of encampment but especially to the manner of march. On the line of march the Judah and Reuben triads would lead the community; then would come the tabernacle with the attendant protective hedge of Levites (see 1:53); last would come the Ephraim and Dan triads. In this way there was not only the sense of the indwelling presence of God in the midst of the people, there was as well the sense that the peoples in their families and tribes were protecting before and behind the shrine of his presence.

   The western encampment. The Rachel tribes were on the west. Joseph's two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, received a special blessing from their grandfather Jacob; but in the process the younger son, Ephraim, was given precedence over Manasseh.

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Cross-reference Genesis 48:5-20
   (5)"Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. (6) Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. (7)As I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath" (that is, Bethlehem).
   (8)When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, "Who are these?"
   (9)"They are the sons God has given me here," Joseph said to his father.
      Then Israel said, "Bring them to me so I may bless them."
   (10)Now Israel's eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.
   (11)Israel said to Joseph, "I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too."
   (12)Then Joseph removed them from Israel's knees and bowed down with his face to the ground. (13)And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel's left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel's right hand, and brought them close to him. (14)But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim's head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh's head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.
   (15)Then he blessed Joseph and said,

          "May the God before whom my fathers
             Abraham and Isaac walked,
          the God who has been my shepherd
             all my life to this day,
    (16)the Angel who has delivered me from all harm
             - may he bless these boys.
          May they be called by my name
             and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,
          and may they increase greatly
             upon the earth."

   (17)When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim's head he was displeased; so he took hold of his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. (18)Joseph said to him, "No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head."
   (19)But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations." (20)He blessed them that day and said,

          "In your name will Israel pronounce this blessing:
             'May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.' "

So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

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   Here, true to Jacob's words, Ephraim is ahead of Manasseh. Last comes Benjamin, the last-born son of Jacob, Joseph's younger brother, on whom the aged father doted after the presumed death of Joseph.

   The northern encampment. Dan was the first son of Bilhah, the maidservant of Rachel. Asher was the second son of Zilpah, the maidservant of Leah. Naphtali was the second son of Bilhah. These, then, are secondary tribes and are positioned on the north side of the shrine of the presence, as it were, on the left hand. Here again we need to read these texts with the values of the people who first experienced them. Our orientation tends to be to the north, but Israel's orientation was to the east. In the final settlement of the land, these three tribes situated to the north of the shrine actually settled in the northern sections of the land of Canaan.

   This must have been one of the biggest campsites the world has ever seen! It would have taken about 12 square miles to set up tents for just the 600,000 fighting men - not to mention the women and children. Moses must have had a difficult time managing such a group. In the early stages of the journey and at Mount Sinai, the people were generally obedient to both God and Moses. But when the people left Mount Sinai and traveled across the rugged desert, they began to complain, grumble, and disobey. Soon problems erupted, and Moses could no longer effectively manage the Israelites. The books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers present a striking contrast between how much we can accomplish when we obey God and how little we can accomplish when we don't. (The Life Application Study Bible - NIV - Zondervan)