And Joshua spoke unto the priests,.... On the morrow, that is, on the tenth day of the month, the day on which they went over Jordan: saying, take up the ark of the covenant; in which the law was put, which was the covenant between God and the people, from whence the ark had this name; and in which it was typical of Christ, in whom both the law, the covenant of works, was fulfilled, and with whom the covenant of grace was made; who is the Mediator; surety, and messenger of it, and in whom all the blessings and promises of it are, and with whom it is, and will be kept for evermore: the ark, the priests were ordered to take up and bear on their shoulders; for no other way might they carry it; these typified the ministers of Christ who bear his name, his Gospel in the world, see Act 9:15, and pass over before the people; over the river Jordan, to direct them in the way through it, and encourage them to follow them: and they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people; from the place where they had lodged the night before to the brink of the river.