Joshua rose up early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel; and they lodged there before they passed over.
God continued to lead His people by means of the ark. Whereas in the wilderness the cloudy pillar over the ark was the focus of the Israelites’ attention, now the ark itself became the primary object of their interest. The writer mentioned the ark 17 times in chapters 3 and 4. It was the visible symbol that God Himself was leading His people into the land and against their enemies.