After hearing the report of the two men who had spied upon Jer'i-cho, Josh'u-a directed the children of Is'ra-el to prepare for an immediate removal to the banks of the Jor'dan. The people took down their tents and rolled them up, then gathered their flocks and herds for the march. The priests took down the Tabernacle, and prepared it for removal. The furnishings and holy vessels of the Tabernacle were also packed in such a way that it would be easy to carry them. The Ark of the Cov'e-nant was covered with curtains, and two staves were run through the golden rings on each side so that it could be carried by the priests.
Josh'u-a gave orders that those who carried the Ark were to march in front of Is'ra-el, being careful to remain about half a mile ahead. The people were warned not to come any nearer to the Ark than that.
Josh'u-a then told the people to dedicate themselves anew to the LORD, saying, "Tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you." On the next morning he directed the priests to take the Ark of the Cov'e-nant upon their shoulders and to march down into the waters of the Jor'dan. The people were to follow, carefully observing the rules already given.
As the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the waters of the Jor'dan, a very miraculous thing took place. The fast running currents of the river were suddenly stopped and piled up like a wall clear across the river, while the waters in front ran swiftly on toward the Dead Sea. In a little while there stretched across the entire Jor'dan river-bed a vast, dry highway, the waters to the north forming a great wall held back by an invisible dam.
The priests who were bearing the Ark moved out into the center of the river-bed, then waited there until the entire host of Is'ra-el had crossed to the other side. Only the women and children of the tribes of Reu'ben, Gad, and Ma-nas'seh, with about seventy thousand men who had been left to protect them and to help in caring for the cattle and sheep, remained on the east side of the Jor'dan.
What a startling sight the He'brews must have presented to the Ca'naan-ites on the west side of the river! Nearly five hundred and fifty thousand soldiers armed for battle, about two million women and children, and countless thousands of sheep and cattle moved in one continuous caravan across the Divinely prepared highway for more than eight hours.
After they all had reacht the west side of the river, Josh'u-a ordered twelve men, one from each tribe of Is'ra-el, to gather twelve large stones from the river-bed where the priests had stood with the Ark. With these stones he set up a monument which was to remind Is'ra-el at all times of the power of God in providing a way for them to cross the Jor'dan. A second memorial for the same purpose was built in the river where the priests had stood with the Ark. Then the waters of the river began to flow rapidly toward the Dead Sea, just as they had before the miracle took place.
