Albert Barnes Commentary Joshua 18:1

"And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled themselves together at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there: and the land was subdued before them." — Joshua 18:1 (ASV)

After all overt resistance was overcome, the tabernacle with its sacred contents was removed from its place of safety at Gilgal, in a corner of the land near the Jordan, to a central place, Shiloh, the modern Scilun, which is two or three miles east of the main road, and a little more than halfway between Jerusalem and Nablus.

Its choice as the national sanctuary may indeed have been determined by Joshua, no doubt under divine direction (Deuteronomy 12:11), because of its insignificance, in order to avoid local jealousies, as well as because of its position in the very center of the whole land, and perhaps also because of its seclusion.

Its very name (“rest”) was probably bestowed at this time, when God had given the people rest from their enemies.

The tabernacle with its contents continued at Shiloh during the whole period of the Judges, until its capture by the Philistines. Shiloh (1 Samuel 4:3–4) seems to have fallen into desolation at an early date (Jeremiah 7:12; Jeremiah 26:6).