Genesis 49:29-33
‘He (Jacob)…said to them (his sons)…”Bury me with my fathers…in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah!… There — they buried Abraham, and Sarah…. There — they buried Isaac and Rebekah…. And there — I buried Leah”…. When Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons — he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the spirit — and was gathered unto his people.’ Genesis 49:29-33.
Calvin commented: “Jacob especially commanded his son Joseph to take care that his body should be buried in the land of Canaan…. The same command was given to all his sons….
“We have stated elsewhere why he made such a point of conscience of his sepulture…. Truly, he did not wish to be carried into the land of Canaan — as if he would be the nearer Heaven for being buried there! But so that, being dead, he might claim possession of a land which he had held during his life only by a precarious tenure….
“He had already fulfilled his course…. It was probable that the memory of the promise should be renewed by this symbol among his surviving sons, in order that they (too) might aspire to it.
“Meanwhile, we gather that his mind did not cleave to the Earth…. Unless he had been an heir of Heaven, he would never have hoped that God, for the sake of one who was dead, would prove so bountiful towards his children….
“‘Abraham,’ he says, ‘bought that sepulchre for himself and his family…. You must therefore take care not to isolate it — in order that after my death too some token of the favour of God may continue with us!’
“‘He gathered up his feet’…. Moses wished thereby to describe the placid death of the holy man…. The aged saint gave directions respecting the disposal of his body, as easily as healthy and vigorous men are wont to compose themselves to sleep…. While death was in his countenance, he thus courageously fulfilled the prophetic office enjoined upon him….
“It is the effect of a good conscience, to be able to depart out of the world without terror…. In order that a good conscience may lead us peacefully and quietly to the grave, it is necessary to rely upon the resurrection of Christ. For we then go willingly to God, when we have confidence respecting a better life. We shall not deem it grievous to leave this failing tabernacle, when we
reflect on the everlasting abode which is prepared for us!”
As Calvin adds in his Institutes III:25:8: “Jacob…, to testify to his posterity that even death did not destroy the hope of the promised land, orders his bones to be carried there. Had he (however first) needed to be clothed with a new body — would it not have been ridiculous for him to give commands concerning a dust which was to be reduced to nothing?” Indeed! The dying Jacob took a long time to die — from Genesis 47:28 to 49:33. Then, he was gathered unto his people!
