The priests obeyed the commands of their leader and went before the people, carrying the ark of the covenant. The Hebrew hosts took up the line of march and followed this symbol of the divine presence. The wide column filed down the bank of Jordan, and, as the feet of the priests were dipped in the brim of the river, the water was cut off from above, and the volume below rolled on, leaving the bed of the stream dry. The priests passed on, bearing the ark of God, and Israel followed in the rear. Halfway over Jordan the priests were commanded to stand still in the channel of the river till all the Hebrew host had crossed over. This was to impress upon their minds more forcibly the fact that the power which stayed the waters of Jordan was the same that enabled their fathers to cross the Red Sea forty years before. {4T 157.2}

Præsterne adlød deres leders påbud og bar pagtens ark frem for folket. De hebræiske hære stillede sig op til march og fulgte dette symbol på guddommelig nærvær. Den brede kolonne fyldte jordanbredden ud og, idet præsternes fødder trådte ned i flodens kant, skiltes vandene ovenfra og nedenunder bevægede vandet sig bort og efterlod flodsengen helt tør. Præsterne med Guds ark passerede og Israel fulgte bagefter. Halvvejs over Jordan fik præsterne ordre til at standse i flodbunden, indtil hebræerhæren var nået over. Det var for at indprente dem endnu stærkere, at dette var de samme kræfter som fik deres fædre til at krydse Det Røde hav fyrre år tidligere.