Êxodo 40:38 Midrash: Midrash Tanchuma, Sifra, Midrash Tehillim & Sifrei Bamidbar

And the Lord went before them by day (Exod. 13:21). You find that there were seven clouds of glory in all. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud (ibid.) was the first; and Thy cloud standeth over them (Num. 14:14) was the second; In a pillar of cloud (ibid.) was the third; That the cloud tarried (Num. 9:22), the fourth; And the going up of the cloud (Exod. 40:36), the fifth; And whenever the cloud was taken up (ibid., 37), the sixth; and For the cloud of the Lord was upon the Tabernacle (ibid., v. 38) was the seventh. Four of the clouds were at each of the four sides; one was above them, another below them, and the seventh cloud preceded them. The last of the clouds lowered the high places, raised the low places, burnt the serpents and the scorpions, and sprinkled the road (to lay the dust) before them.

9) "Outside the parocheth of the testimony": Now was the light of the menorah required? Was it not with His light (i.e., that of the Shechinah) by which the Jews traveled all forty years in the desert? Rather (it is to be understood as meaning that) it served as testimony to the inhabitants of the world that the Shechinah resided in Israel. What is the testimony? Rava said: It is the western lamp, into which he would place as much oil as in all the other lamps, and yet would commence (lighting all the other lamps) with it and conclude (servicing the lamps) with it.

Hear our prayer, all flesh will come before You. The prayer of all flesh You hear, but ours You do not hear. (We shall pay our vows, as it is said) Hear our prayer, all flesh will come, even the king of flesh and blood cannot hear from two or three people at once, let alone from everyone, but the Holy One, blessed be He, hears everyone who prays and whispers before Him, as it is said, "Hear our prayer, all flesh will come." Flesh and blood's ears are filled with what they hear, but the Holy One, blessed be He, is not so, as it is written, "Do not let your ear hear." Be the One who hears our prayer. Flesh and blood enter the synagogue and see them praying, praying with them, and the Holy One, blessed be He, hears. ("You hear the prayer of everyone, but ours You do not hear.") (Lamentations 3:8) "Even when I cry out and call for help." (Exodus 40:38) "The cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle." He asked them, "What do you seek? Shall I dance on the roofs or on the transgressions?" They said to Him, "We do not ask for roofs, transgressions, or mysteries, but only for the words of our sins. Our transgressions have increased, You will atone for them."