The fact that the altar was of an imposing size (Joshua 22:10) and built on the western side of the Jordan (Joshua 22:10–11) certainly is evidence that it was not built for the purposes of offering sacrifices. If sacrificing was the intention, there was no need for it to be unusually large and it would have been built on the eastern side of the river so that it could be accessible to the eastern tribes.1 Thus the size and location of the altar support the eastern tribes’ assertion that it was meant to be a witness.
28 And we thought, ‘If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, “Behold, the copy of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you.”’