In Joshua chapter 3, the families of the Israelites are packed up and ready to cross the Jordan River into the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The priests carried the ark of the covenant first. They stayed about a mile ahead of the tribes. When the priests set foot into the water, the water stopped flowing! They stood in the middle, while the Israelites passed through on dry land. Twelve men, one from each tribe, took a stone and made a memorial where the priests had stood. When Joshua commanded the priests to get out of the river bed, the water started flowing again.