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Rashi comments that, “the Torah placed a sign before and after this paragraph to inform us this is not it's true place. Why, then, is it written right here in the Torah? In order to create a separation between the bad events before and after it.”
The bad event which follows these verses is clear: “The people complained…and then the Israelites wept and said, “If only we had meat to eat. We remember the fish that we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic…But now there is nothing at all, but this manna…”.
But what is so bad about the verses preceding those verses? They read: “They marched from the mountain of God a distance of three days. The Ark of the Covenant traveled in front of them on that three days’ journey to seek out a resting place for them. And God’s cloud kept above them by day, as they moved on from camp.”
Was leaving the mountain so bad? Weren't they supposed to leave, in order to go to Israel?
Nachmanides explains: “The bad thing which is contained in these verses of leaving the mountain is as the Medrash states: That the Jewish people left Mount Sinai with glee like a child who runs out of school when it ends. They ran saying, 'God might give us more commandments [if we don’t run away now]'.”
Thus, the two verses about the ark moving, which are bracketed by the nuns, interrupt two episodes in which the Jewish people run away from Mount Sinai, just after having received the Torah from God, and as they complain in the desert for meat.
Why must the verses of the ark appear between these two episodes? Does the retreat from Saini somehow result in their illegitimate desire, and rejection of the manna? What does this have to do with the ark of the covenant?
We often think that freedom means being without rules, but if our freedom is only escaping from something —and not a freedom towards some greater purpose— then it will never be true freedom. Instead, it will quickly become another type of bondage, for the human does not really seek freedom, but purpose. Real freedom is embracing the ability to choose that which will enlarge us and make our lives more meaningful.
As Victor Frankl wrote:
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