Each Jew's unique mission under his banner

במדרש נרננה בישועתך כו' נתאוו בנ"י לדגלים כמלאכי השרת כו'.

In the Midrash: "We will sing for joy in Your salvation [and in the name of our God we will raise our banners (nidgol)]" (Tehillim 20:6) — Bnei Yisrael longed for banners (degalim) like the ministering angels.

The Midrash teaches that Bnei Yisrael yearned to be arranged under banners, like the ranks of the malachim, prompting the formation of the camps in this parashah.

ענין הדגלים למלאכים שהם נק' שלוחים שהנהגת העולם והטבע על ידיהם.

The matter of the banners belonging to the angels is that they are called "messengers" (sheluchim), for the governance of the world and of nature is carried out through them.

Angels are "messengers" because Hashem conducts the natural world through them; their "banners" represent their fixed roles in that governance.

וכמו כן בנ"י מיוחדים בעוה"ז לקבל השפעה הבאה משמים.

And likewise Bnei Yisrael are designated in this world to receive the flow (shefa) that comes from heaven.

Bnei Yisrael have a parallel role: in this world they are the appointed recipients of the Divine flow from above.

המלאכים להשפעה מלמעלה למטה.

The angels are for the flow from above to below.

The malachim channel shefa downward, from the higher realms to the lower.

ובנ"י להעלות התחתונים לעליונים.

And Bnei Yisrael are to elevate the lower [worlds] to the upper.

Bnei Yisrael work in the opposite direction — raising the lower world back up toward its supernal source.

ולכן יש לכל אחד פעולה מיוחדת שזה ענין הדגל.

And therefore each one has a particular task — and this is the meaning of the banner (degel).

Just as each angel has its distinct mission, each Jew (and each tribe) has its own unique avodah; the banner signifies that individual mission.

אכן מקודם הוצרכו בנ"י לתקן את נפשותיהם.

However, first Bnei Yisrael needed to rectify their souls.

Before they could be assigned their banners, they first had to set their souls in order.

וכשנתישרו ועמדו על מקומם והכיר כל א' מקומו ושרשו.

And when they became aligned and stood in their place, and each one recognized his place and his root,

Once each person was set straight and recognized his unique place and spiritual root,

אז הכינו בנ"י עצמם לתקן כל התחתונים וזה נרננה בישועתך מה שנעשה עמהם על הים כו'.

then Bnei Yisrael prepared themselves to rectify all the lower [worlds] — and this is "we will sing for joy in Your salvation," [referring to] what was done with them at the Sea.

Knowing his place, each could fulfill his mission of elevating the lower world. "We will sing in Your salvation" recalls the redemption at the Yam Suf, the salvation that empowered this mission.

וגם אחר שנתקן החטא ע"י מלאכת המשכן ואח"כ בשם אלקינו נדגול:

And also after the sin was rectified through the work of the Mishkan, [then] "and in the name of our God we will raise our banners" (nidgol).

Only after the sin of the Golden Calf was repaired through building the Mishkan were they ready for "in the name of our God we will raise our banners" — the arrangement under banners with each in his rectified, designated place.

Summary: Bnei Yisrael longed for banners like the angels, for both serve Hashem in the governance of creation — the angels drawing the flow downward, and Bnei Yisrael elevating the lower world upward, each with his own unique mission represented by his banner. But this required preparation: first they had to rectify their souls and have each person recognize his true place and root, and only after the sin was mended through the Mishkan could they take up their banners "in the name of our God."