The people of Israel were led across the Jordon to take possession of the land God promised. God stopped the flow of the Jordon, and the water rose like a heap far from them as they crossed. God commanded the people to take twelve stones, one for each tribe, and lay it as a memorial to remind them that God brought them across the Jordon on dry land, just as He brought the people of Israel across the Red Sea. The memorial was to remind them and all the people of the earth that the Lord is mighty.