and they commanded the people, saying, When you see the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then you shall remove from your place, and go after it.
The people’s self-consecration (Joshua 3:5) consisted of their turning their hearts to God and getting their attitudes and actions right with Him (cf. Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17). God had previously promised to do wonders (Joshua 3:5, awesome miracles) when they would enter the land (cf. Exodus 34:10). Undoubtedly the people had been looking forward to seeing these miracles in view of what their parents had told them and what some of them remembered about the plagues in Egypt.