Joshua 3:16
That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.
The waters coming down from above were held back and stood in a heap very far away at Adam beside Zaretan, while those flowing down toward the sea of the plain, the Salt Sea, failed and were cut off, laying the riverbed bare as dry ground for the people to pass over opposite Jericho. The crossing came when melting snows had swollen the Jordan beyond its banks, and when the priests bearing the ark stepped down and dipped their feet in the brim, the current from above was swept back and stayed while the water below flowed on. The ark containing the law and signifying God's presence led the way by God's command, with Christ going before it and remaining with the priests in the midst of the channel until the whole host had crossed to the western side. The power that stayed the Jordan was the same divine power that had opened the Red Sea forty years before, proving that the living God was among Israel and that the river was subject to Him. The miracle greatly strengthened the faith of that generation and prepared their way into Canaan, while filling the Canaanite kings with terror and ending their reproach over Israel's delay in possessing the land. It shows how God leads when means are lacking and the work looks impossible, bidding His servants advance in faith even with their feet at the waters and then opening the way before them.
The Waters Held Back
The crossing came in spring when melting mountain snows had swollen the Jordan over its banks so that it could not be crossed at the fording places. The people were told to sanctify themselves because wonders would follow, and Joshua was magnified in Israel's sight as Moses had been. The ark of the covenant, which contained the law and signified God's presence, led the way by God's command, borne on the priests' shoulders with a vacant space of more than half a mile behind it.
When the priests advanced down the bank toward the angry surging stream and their feet were dipped in the brim of the water, the tide from above was swept back and held while the current below flowed on, parting the river and leaving a safe path by God's miraculous will. The upstream waters stood and rose in a heap very far away at Adam beside Zaretan or Zarethan, while the waters flowing down toward the sea of the plain, the Salt or Dead Sea, failed and were cut off, laying bare the riverbed as exposed dry ground. The current upstream stood back while the water below continued flowing away until the bed of the river was laid bare.
At divine command the priests moved to the middle of the channel and stood there with the ark while the entire host crossed to the farther western side on dry land right against Jericho. They were the men of war who had crossed the Red Sea as children forty years before, now fully equipped for battle. Christ went before the ark and the waters were cut off before His presence, and Christ and angels remained beside the ark and the priests in the riverbed until all Israel had crossed.
When all the people had passed over and the ark was carried in safety to the western shore and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up onto dry land, the imprisoned waters were set free and rushed down as a resistless flood in the natural channel, rolling on as before and again overflowing its banks. Twelve stones, one for each tribe, were taken from where the priests' feet had stood and erected as a monument at Gilgal so the miracle would be remembered.
What the Crossing Meant
The power that held back the Jordan was the same divine power that had opened the Red Sea for the fathers forty years before, proving that the living God was among Israel and that the Jordan was subject to Him. That display convinced that generation and greatly strengthened their faith, and by it God had prepared their way into Canaan. The same mighty power was shown when God descended on Sinai amid fire and smoke and thunder, when He parted the Red Sea, when He made a way through the Jordan, and when He later burst a storm upon the Philistine army.
The crossing belongs with choosing Israel at Sinai, bringing them out of Egypt, delivering them from oppression, and dividing the Red Sea so they passed through on dry land while Pharaoh's army perished. These were blessings that could never have been repaid even by Israel's best service, yet Israel utterly failed to make the most of its opportunities, culminating in rejecting Jesus Christ when Heaven sent its very best gift. The event filled the Canaanite kings with terror and ended their grounds for reproaching Israel for not possessing the land. The people of Jericho remembered the fresh passage through the Jordan together with the parting of the Red Sea forty years before as they watched Israel march around their city each day with ark and priests and trumpets. That memory brought wonder and alarm and awe and terror to watchmen and rulers and priests and princes and people, leaving them not knowing what further wonders God might work, so they kept their gates carefully closed and guarded with mighty warriors, while some ridiculed the demonstrations and others were awed by the splendor of the host under Joshua. The miraculous passage took place immediately before the renewal of the covenant in the circumcision of the people, the observance of the Passover, the appearance of the Angel of the covenant, the Captain of the Lord's host, the command to keep from the accursed thing, and the overthrow of Jericho.
The crossing took place not far from Bethabara, just below the place where John later baptized, in the very land around his hearers. Together with nearby Jericho overthrown by divine power, remembering these works reminded the Jews of God's mighty acts and stirred the whole nation to hope and expect great things if the Messiah had come. Israel's later remembrance of crossing with the ark and easily conquering Jericho became a false trust when the elders treated the ark's presence alone as a guarantee of victory. The lesson is that strength depended on obedience to God's law represented by the ark, not on possessing the sacred ark itself. The crossing shows how God leads when means are lacking and the work looks impossible, for He does not always make everything plain beforehand but brings servants into strait and trying places to try their confidence and compel forward movement in faith. He bids them advance even when their feet are at the waters of Jordan, and when they obey and pray in earnest faith He opens the way, reveals His salvation, prospers their efforts, sustains every laborer, and brings them out into a large place.