“And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.”

‍Joshua 4:9

The Wilderness Stones buried on the bottom of the Jordan River, where the feet of the Priests stood, signify the death and burial of Israel’s forty years of unbelief and sinning in the Wilderness. The Lord is saying to Israel that time of the past is over, buried, out of sight, and forgotten. When we properly trust in Christ, this is typical of all our sins of the past. These sins are to be left on the floor of the Jordan River and never to be brought to the surface ever again. Jesus Christ never reminds us of how awful we were without Him, but reminds of how loved and beautiful we are with Him.

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In the Baptism of Christ, we die to our old self and rise into a New Life. We are reminded that our old life, sins, and shortcomings are buried beneath the waters of the Wrath of God. Our present position is not on the wilderness ground of wrath and death, but on the ground of Resurrection Canaan Land.

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There was only one way into Canaan Land for Israel. That one way was only by the Ark of the Covenant. As the Ark was the way for Israel then, so it is for us today.

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Jesus says, “I am the way.” The Ark of old typified Who Jesus is to us today. The wood of the Ark typified His Humanity, the gold His Deity, and the blood sprinkled on its cover His Atonement. As the Ark sank to the depth of the Jordan and rolled back its waters, so Christ descended into the deep waters of the Wrath of God and opened the one way into Everlasting Life.