In this Torah portion, the configuration of the encampment of the tribes is described in great detail. Each tribe is situated under its banner in its fixed place, both in the encampment and in travel. The Sages relate that this configuration was determined back in the days of Jacob, who commanded his sons how to convey his coffin from Egypt on the way to his burial in the Land of Israel.

When Jacob our patriarch was passing from this world, he told his sons: “I will lie with my fathers and you will carry me from Egypt and bury me in their burial place” (Genesis 47:30). How did he command them to transport his body? He said to them: Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun will carry my coffin on the eastern side. Reuben, Simeon, and Dan will carry it from the southern side. Dan, Asher, and Naphtali will carry it from the northern side. Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh will carry it from the western side. Joseph will not carry it. Why? Because he is a king and you are required to pay him respect. Levi will not carry it. Why? Because they are destined to carry the ark, and one who carries the ark of He who gives life to the world will not carry the coffin of a corpse. If you carry my coffin as I commanded you, the Holy One, Blessed be He, is destined to rest His Divine Presence among you when you are divided into camps. Once Jacob died, they carried him as he commanded them to carry him.... When the Israelites left Egypt, the Holy One, Blessed be He, said: The time has arrived for them to be divided into camps in the manner that their forefather informed them that they are destined to be divided into camps. Immediately, the Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Moses: Moses, divide them into camps in My name. Moses began to be concerned: Now disputes between the tribes are going to begin. If I say to the tribe of Judah to encamp to the east, it will say to me: I want only to the south. Likewise, the others will do the same, each and every tribe. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Moses: Moses, why are you concerned? They do not need you in this matter, as they are familiar with their proper locations on their own. Why? Because they possess their forefather’s instructions determining where their camps shall be stationed. I am not introducing anything novel to them, as they already have protocols from Jacob their forefather. In the manner that they surrounded his coffin, so will they surround the Tabernacle. (Tanĥuma, Bemidbar)