Final Preparations

Having received the encouraging report of the spies he had sent into Jericho, Joshua seizes the moment, rising early the next day and leading Israel to a new camp on the banks of the Jordan. He then sends the officers of the people through the camp with instructions for the crossing of the river. This may be the point at which Joshua issues the command of 1:11. But the officers also give the people detailed instructions for the march, for they have not made a major move for some time and their next journey will be far from routine.

The officers say to the people: “ ‘When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it.’ ” The ark, an elaborately built chest containing the tablets of the Ten Commandments, Aaron’s rod that budded, and a jar of manna (Heb. 9:4), is the symbol of God’s presence with Israel; its lid is regarded as the throne of God. During their wilderness wanderings, the Israelites camped by tribes around the tabernacle where the ark was housed, demonstrating that God was in their midst (Num. 2). As on earlier marches (Num. 10:34–36), God is going to go before His people symbolically, but now He is going to take them across the Jordan and into Canaan. The people must follow, but they must keep a respectful distance, about a thousand yards. Matthew Henry notes that “they must thus express their awful and reverent regard to that token of God’s presence.” Such a gap also would make it easier for all the Israelites to see the ark and follow its lead.

Finally, Joshua issues one last preliminary command: “ ‘Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.’ ” Just as God had commanded the people to consecrate themselves before He descended onto Mount Sinai (Ex. 19:10–11), He here tells them to prepare for another encounter with Him. Another holy moment is at hand; God is preparing to exercise His power on behalf of His people. By His strength He will bring them across the final barrier to fulfillment of His promise to lead them into the land given to their forefather Abraham so many years before. “God was about to give them uncommon instances of His favor,” Henry writes. Thus, it is fitting for them to prepare their souls as well as their provisions.