by his own standard
Numbers 2:2
2:2 by his own standard. The men of Israel were organized as an army, with each tribe having its own “flag,” as it were, under which it marched, and beside which it pitched camp. The nature of the insignia on each standard has not been recorded in Scripture. One tradition suggests that each banner corresponded in design and color to its particular stone in the breastplate of the high priest (Exodus 28:21). Another states that each tribe used one of the twelve heavenly “signs” (Genesis 1:14) in the Zodiacal constellations as its emblem, with Judah in particular using the sign of the victorious Lion, or Leo (Genesis 49:9). If so, the purpose would not be astrological, but Messianic and prophetic. The fact is, however, that no one knows what they were.
