The column of smoke rising out of the burning city recalls Genesis 19:28, which describes smoke going up from the divine judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah. That means that the column rising up from Gibeah marks it as a symbol of what the Lord hates and has given over to destruction. This is what makes the burning of the city so tragically significant. Gibeah was part of the inheritance God had given his people (Joshua 15:57; Joshua 18:28). Its destruction symbolizes then also the awful cost at which victory over evil has been won. Israel destroyed part of itself in order to deal with the sin of Gibeah. Will Israel be healed?1
40 But when the signal began to rise out of the city in a column of smoke, the Benjaminites looked behind them, and behold, the whole of the city went up in smoke to heaven.