Genesis 47:29
And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt:
As the time drew near for Israel to die, he called his son Joseph to him and asked that he not be buried in Egypt but be carried to the burial place of his fathers in Canaan. He required Joseph to bind himself by a solemn oath to carry out this charge, with Joseph putting his hand under Jacob's thigh as the sign of that pledge. The place he sought was beside his fathers in the cave of Machpelah. The request rested on faith in God's promise that his family would possess Canaan.