The Ark was a type of Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God (see note Exo. 25:10^1b). When the Ark of God went with the children of Israel, the Triune God went with them, taking the lead and thus being the first to step into the water. That the Ark was on the shoulders of the priests indicates that, in type, the priests who bore the Ark became one entity with the Triune God. They and God were one corporate person — a corporate God-man. God walked in their walking, and they walked in God’s walking. This picture shows that the move of God for the carrying out of His economy is through Christ’s move together with His bearing priests (cf. Acts 13:1-3; 16:6-10).

This was the first miracle performed for Israel as they entered the good land. Such a miracle surely was a sign to the children of Israel that their God was real, true, living, and active.

I.e., the plain that runs from the north of the Dead Sea south to the Gulf of Aqaba.

I.e., the Dead Sea. So also throughout the book.

Israel’s crossing the river Jordan typifies not the believers’ physical death but the believers’ experience of the death of Christ, in which their old man is terminated and buried (Rom. 6:3-6; Gal. 2:20). Israel’s entering into the good land after crossing the Jordan typifies not the believers’ going to heaven after they die but the believers’ experience of taking over the heavenlies, where Satan and his power of darkness are (see note Num. 21:1² in and note Eph. 6:12^4e). Israel’s crossing the Jordan and entering the good land are related to Israel’s possessing and enjoying the good land, which typifies the believers’ practical experience of the riches of the blessings in Christ as revealed in the book of Ephesians. See note Matt. 3:6^2b.