“²⁹When the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “Now if I have found favour in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt, ³⁰but let me lie with my fathers; you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.”

And he said, “I will do as you have said.”

³¹Then he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him. So Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed.”

– Genesis 47:29-31 (NKJV)

“When the time drew near that Israel must die (notice the absolute, uncompromising & resolute conviction in The Sovereign Will of God over the duration of the lives of His People affirmed by The Inspired Writer of the Scriptures in such phrases as “the time” and “must die”; we also recognise here a rather profound nod to the principle of death and resurrection in that Jacob is here again referred to as ‘Israel’ : Israel The Man dies [i.e. one tiny representative seed must be planted] that an entire nation – Israel The People of God – may be resurrected [i.e. a plentiful harvest established in the earth]), he called his son Joseph (The Father’s Representative upon the earth) and said to him, “Now if I have found favour in your sight (Revelation 5:12), please put your hand under my thigh (a repetition of the practice whereby a most weighty and solemn request is brought under oath that we have seen also in Abraham’s request to his most beloved oldest servant when imploring him to seek out a wife for his son Isaac amongst his own people [Genesis 24]), and deal kindly (“in Spirit . . . “: as one bearing The Fruit of The Spirit [Ephesians 5:1]) and truly (“. . . and in Truth”: as a True Worshiper of God [John 4:24]) with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt, but let me lie with my fathers (how profound to recognise that this practice employed by Abraham when imploring his servant [Genesis 24:4], and again here in these moments by Jacob when imploring Joseph [Genesis 47:30], both relate to a deep yearning for an ultimate returning and settling with the true people of God in The Heavenly, The Promised Land, and not in the temporary, the earthen land of the foreigner); you  shall (notice here again also a prophetic sense of certainty indicated by the phrase “you shall ” prior to an answer in the affirmative or vow made, signifying once again The Sovereign Will of God in the matter; it is odd but altogether lovely to see also how the humble entreaty made prior to this phrase and indicated in other phrases such as “if I have found favour in your sight “, “please put” and “please do not” can co-exist in perfect tension with such an Absolute Assurance as “you shall“) carry me out of Egypt (“release me from this body of death!” [Romans 7:24]: this temporary sojourn in this desolate place) and bury me in their burial place (“with my fathers” – with God’s Chosen People in Our Eternal Dwelling Place).” And he said, “I will do as you have said.” (How precious the reiteration that these things of eternal consequence still yet cannot be accomplished without ‘The Son’ [Romans 7:25].) Then he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him. So Israel  bowed himself on the head of the bed (again we see the exultant reverence of ‘The Son’ even of one in old age, even upon a death bed [Revelation 5:12]).”