For a land that possesses such enormous significance to us and to people of the Bible, the land of Canaan was not really very large. All in, the borders of the Promised Land extended a total of 160 miles in length and only fifty miles in width (give or take a few miles here and there).
This pales in comparison to the dimensions of Heaven in Revelation 21:16, which describe the city as a perfect square where each side fifteen hundred miles long. In strictly physical terms, that makes Heaven 281 times larger than Canaan.
Or, to put it in terms that my brain can comprehend, if Heaven were a physical place here on earth, it would cover nearly two-thirds of the continental United States—from the Atlantic coastline all the way to the Rocky Mountains.
Canaan, by comparison, is no larger than New Jersey.
The metaphors write themselves. Heaven is grander, larger, more beautiful, and everything that Canaan is not, but Canaan itself is described as a significant step up from everywhere else in the known world (at least, to Israel). It’s a land of milk and honey—a place where Israel could be God’s people, kinda like how we will be in Heaven.
The borders of Canaan that are laid out in Numbers 34 are well-defined, but totally obscure to modern eyes. For instance, we’re told that the Southern Border is Kadesh-Barnea, but where exactly is Kadesh-Barnea? Numbers 34:7 tells Israel to draw the border from the Great Sea (Mediterranean) to Mount Hor, but where on the Great Sea?
These are questions only for us; Israel seems to have understood it all just fine. But what’s the point of these boundary lines for us?
Notice two things. First, the boundary lines were as much to limit the expanse of Israel as much as define it. The area seemed massive initially, but once they’re in it, the temptation to extend the borders farther would prove tempting.
David spent most of his life finishing the work started in Joshua by rooting out the Philistines and other nations. If had lived longer and been more empirically-minded, I’m sure he could’ve turned Israel into a world power that stretched for hundreds of miles.
But that wasn’t the idea. Canaan was theirs, but only Canaan was theirs. Israel was God’s people and they received their inheritance, but other humans needed land, too. God cared about them also.
Second, remember that these boundaries were put in place before the conquest. The people already knew what the goal was before they ever stepped across the Jordan.
From a psychological perspective, this is massive. I’ve heard health-and-wealth preachers for years talk about visualizing your success and “name it and claim it,” and as much as I despise that theology, the point isn’t terrible. When Israel was told where their land was, they could visualize it. They could see it. They could believe it.
We are told the borders of heaven in Revelation 21 for the same reason. It’s not a far off place that is reserved for a chosen few, but our inheritance that is waiting for us. Like Israel, we should visualize it, because when we see it, we believe it.
And when we believe it, we’ll conquer the things in our life that are necessary to occupy it.