The Priests Who Carried the Ark
The consecrated Levitical priests who hoisted the golden poles of the Ark onto their shoulders, stepped barefoot into the flood-stage Jordan River first, and stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the riverbed until every Israelite had crossed.
When the Jordan River was overflowing all its banks throughout the time of harvest, God did not part the river from a distance as Moses had done at the Red Sea. Instead, Joshua commanded the Levitical priests to take up the Ark of the Covenant, walk two thousand cubits ahead of the people, and step directly into the raging water (Joshua 3:3–8, 14–15).
'As soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water,' the river upstream stood in a single heap at Adam, and the priests stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan until the entire nation had finished passing over (Joshua 3:15–17).
The Parted Waters — The Flood-Stage Jordan, The Priests Bearing the Ark & Crossing on Dry Ground
As priests carrying the Ark step into the flood-stage Jordan River, the raging waters pile up in a heap and all Israel crosses on dry ground.
