It is somewhat random to have the bones of Joseph mentioned at the end of the book Joshua, given that Joseph lived such a long time ago. However, they are mentioned because on his deathbed, Joseph made his brothers swear that when he dies they should take his bones up from Egypt and bury them in the Promised Land (Genesis 50:24–25). Hebrews 11:22 interprets this as a great act of faith on the part of Joseph. And so in Exodus 13:19 we read about Moses taking the bones with him and here in Joshua they are finally buried. Joseph wanted his descendants to know that their land was in Canaan and not in Egypt.
But there is something more to these bones than just a claim on land for one’s descendants. There is an assumption about a future in that land. A future not only for those who come after Joseph—his descendants—but somehow a future for Joseph himself, even a resurrection from the dead.
The New Testament book of Hebrews (Hebrews 11:8–19) confirms that Abraham understood and held fast to the hope of resurrection. He considered that God was able to raise his son Isaac from the dead if need be. That is why he went ahead with God’s instructions in Genesis 22:1–24. Also, Abraham knew that the land of Canaan anticipated the heavenly city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. Thus, life in the land was a picture of eternal life in God’s presence. So if Abraham had this hope, we can assume that it is one that also burned in the hearts of Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. In the words of Jesus from Mark 12 (Mark 12:25–27), The Lord is the God of the living and not the dead.
Critical scholars respond to such claims by stating that the idea of resurrection is a New Testament concept that is absent from the Old. To their minds the apostles are reading things back into Scripture rather than drawing from what was already present. In response we can also consider Old Testament affirmations.
Many of the psalms found in the Bible were written after the lifetime of Joseph, yet they still convey within them a hope of eternal life. One prominent example is Psalm 16. In that Psalm David testifies that the Lord will not abandon my soul to the grave or let his godly one see decay (Psalm 16:10). The New Testament tells us that these words convey the desires of Christ, and the fact that they were sung by saints of old is thus a confirmation of resurrection hope.
But perhaps even clearer are the words of Psalm 37:27–29. The Psalm begins by talking about the need to control your anger, trusting God to judge, and doing good to those who wrong us. It also mentions the fact that the wicked will perish whilst the servants of God inherit the land—their heritage will remain forever. They will dwell in the land forever. They are not forsaken by the Lord, but preserved forever. Forever, and ever, and ever. Not life in the land until death, but life in the land forever.
From this we can affirm with confidence that old covenant believers looked forward to resurrection. Life in God’s presence in a physical land forever. Joseph on his deathbed does not know exactly how that will be possible, but he trusts the Lord to make a plan and he has confidence that his life will not end with his death.
Admittedly the hope of resurrection is not so clear in the Old Testament. God gradually and progressively revealed truth to his people as men spoke from God carried along by the Holy Spirit. When we come to the New Testament, however, types and shadows are done away with and things are much clearer. Jesus himself tells us in John 6:39–40: And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
32 As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money. It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.