אהרן ובניו בנסוע המחנה, the two “flags” who journeyed first, ahead of the parts of the prefabricated Tabernacle which had been dismantled and which was being transported by the Levites.

ונתנו על המוט. Rabbi Joseph Kara (1060-1130, Troyes) erred in understanding this verse, thinking that since the Torah did not mention two staves, as in Numbers 13,23) for instance, that it follows that this stave was underneath the vessels, seeing that the Torah wrote the word על, “above.” I would counter that the staves (poles) were always on the sides of the vessels being transported and that they had been inserted through rings fastened to the respective objects being transported by them. We find that the Torah spells this out in Exodus 25,14, 25,27, 27,7, and 30,4. The singular במוט is indeed found in connection with carrying something by means of poles in Exodus 25,28 and in Isaiah 46,7 as well as in Chronicles II 35,3. We must not be misled by the word being in the singular. It simply means to describe the “method” of transportation, this method being poles. [when we speak of כסף meaning “money,” we also do not necessarily refer to a single coin. Ed.]

ואחרי כן יבאו בני קהת, after the ark and the other furnishings in the Tabernacle had been covered.

כבלע את הקודש, when the roof and walls of the Tabernacles were being dismantled these furnishings would suddenly be revealed to all. If people would look at these objects they would die. We know this from the inhabitants of Beyt Shemesh who had seen the ark with their own eyes. (Samuel I 6,19)

כבלע, similar to בלע ה' in Lamentations 2,2 or in Isaiah 3,12 ודרך אורחותיך בלעו, “they have swallowed up the way of Your paths.” [swallowing is a form of making something disappear, destroying it. The author quotes more examples of the verb בלע, which I have omitted. Ed.] We have noted from verse 5-15 that from the time the Tabernacle was being dismantled the Levites immediately proceeded to cover up its furnishings. Even the members of the family of Kehat withdrew at the time when Aaron and sons alone lowered the dividing curtain. The entire procedure of dismantling the Tabernacle was performed exclusively by Aaron and his sons.

גם הם; seeing the Torah had written earlier (4,2) “elevate the members of the family of Kehat.”