John Calvin Commentary Numbers 10:14

"And in the first [place] the standard of the camp of the children of Judah set forward according to their hosts: and over his host was Nahshon the son of Amminadab." — Numbers 10:14 (ASV)

In the first place went the standard of the camp. The actual order of march is described here.

The whole people, with the exception of the Levites, were divided into four hosts, or parts, as four of the tribes were set over the others, with each leading tribe having two others under its command.

This was their procedure: whenever they halted anywhere, the four standards surrounded the sanctuary and the Ark of the Covenant from the four cardinal directions.

While on the march, the Levites carrying the tabernacle, according to the burdens assigned to them, were interspersed among the various divisions.

The Ark, carried on the shoulders of the Levites, went ahead of the whole army, so that all might follow more confidently, with God thus clearly showing them the way.

Nahshon of the tribe of Judah led the first host; Elizur of the tribe of Reuben, the second; Elishama of the tribe of Ephraim, the third; and Ahiezer of the tribe of Dan, the fourth.

It is obvious that in the precedence given to the tribe of Judah, God, to some extent, provided a foreshadowing of Jacob's prophecy. The Reubenites, being descended from the firstborn, would not have willingly given up their position unless that right had been transferred to the tribe of Judah by God’s decree, spoken through Jacob.

This was not because sovereignty and royal power actually belonged to Judah before the time of David, but because God wanted a single spark to shine in the midst of the deep darkness. Through this, He could nurture the hope of the promised salvation in every heart, and so the dignity of this tribe might eventually more easily bring everyone to obedience.

In this, however, it became clear how perverse and intractable was the spirit of the greater part of them who struggled against the divine decree in their rejection of David.

Reuben occupied the second place as a mitigation of his disgrace. Again, by the tribe of Manasseh's subjection to the descendants of Ephraim, the prophecy of the same patriarch was also fulfilled in this respect. Nor does there seem to be any other reason why the fourth standard was given to the tribe of Dan, except that Jacob had declared, Dan shall judge his people (Genesis 49:16), an expression that signified his preeminence.

Although it is possible that the four standard-bearing tribes were chosen for their strength and the number of their people, still, unless the descendants of Reuben and Manasseh had been thoroughly convinced that their lower position was in accordance with God's command, their jealousy would never have allowed them to calmly submit to others, to whom they were superior by natural order. Their self-restraint, therefore, was praiseworthy, because their voluntary subjection kept them in check without any forced compulsion. At the end, Moses records that they did not advance in this way only once, but that they observed the same order and regulations throughout their entire journey, and that their camp was always arranged so that no disputes arose to disturb them.