The ministering angels said: Behold, we serve before Him by day and by night, and we are unable to see His glory, and this one born of woman desires to see His glory. And they arose in wrath and excitement to slay him, and his soul came nigh unto death. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He revealed Himself unto him in a cloud, as it is said, "And the Lord descended in the cloud" (Ex. 34:5). This was the seventh descent.
The Holy One, blessed be He, protected him with the hollow of His hand that he should not die, as it is said, "And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover thee with my hand" (Ex. 33:22). When the Holy One, blessed be He, had passed by, He removed the hollow of His hand from him, and he saw the traces of the Shekhinah, as it is said, "And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back" (Ex. 33:23). Moses began to cry with a loud voice, and he said: "O Lord, O Lord, a God full of compassion and gracious …" (Ex. 34:6).