Pillar of cloud by day and fire by night

These picture shows a column of light in the sky which looked very biblical.  Unfortunately there was no great progression of the awe inspiring spectacle.  The pillar was fantastic enough in and of itself, but it almost seemed to promise a further revelation.  The sun on the right of the picture was obscured to some extent behind clouds.  The light from the sun was refracted by a separate cloud formation and the result looked like an illuminated column of cloud that could become a pillar of fire by night.  The title for this picture is inspired by the following description from Exodus.

“And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:  He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.”

Exodus 13:21-22  King James Bible

I have no doubt the phenomenon pictured here was perfectly natural.  At first I was stunned by this lighting effect.  Luckily it lasted long enough for me to capture it by camera.  The column did appear to waver slightly and to offer the possibility of transforming its shape.  The luminance in the sky gave an impression that a brilliant development might be about to begin.  On one level it was like looking at a vertical rainbow and yet it was more unusual and so seemed more fantastic.