Numbers 13:21-25

The sacred historian hath here marked the outline of the spies route through the promised land. The map of that country shows that they went quite through it; for from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, is nearly south to north. Hebron, which they visited, is a memorable spot, rendered so by its being near to the cave of Abraham and Sarah, their great Ancestors. And Reader! it is worthy your observation, that as the LORD promised this land to Abraham and his seed for a possession, here the dead bodies of Abraham and Sarah lay, to keep, as it were possession of it, until the time of the promise arrived, for his living race fully to enjoy it. See Genesis 23:1; Genesis 25:9. I cannot help detaining the Reader just to remark to him, that the grapes of Eshcol were to the believing Israelites as a sample of the fruitfulness of the country, so they were a sweet type of the first fruits of the Spirit, on the minds of the LORD'S people now; an earnest, as it were, of what the soul will be fully satisfied with, when we come to receive the end of our faith, even the salvation of the soul. 2 Corinthians 5:5.