John Calvin Commentary Joshua 5:15

"And the prince of Jehovah`s host said unto Joshua, Put off thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so." — Joshua 5:15 (ASV)

Loose your shoe from off your foot, etc. To give additional sanctity to the vision, the great Angel requires Joshua to take off his shoes as a sign of reverence and fear. Moses relates (Exodus 3:5) that the same command was given to him on Mount Sinai, and for no other reason than that the Lord manifested His glory there.

For one place cannot have a greater sanctity than another, unless God specially deigns to make it so. Thus Jacob exclaims (Genesis 28:17) that the place where he had known God more closely is the house of God, a dreadful place, and the gate of heaven.

Here, therefore, when God orders His holy servant to take off his shoes, He, by this ceremony, attests to the reality of His presence and adds more weight to the vision. This is not because bare feet are in themselves of any value in worshipping God, but because human weakness requires such aids, so that they may better stir up and prepare themselves for veneration.

Moreover, as God by His presence sanctifies the places in which He appears, I think it probable that the expression 'holy ground' is in part a commendation of the excellence of the land of Canaan, which God had chosen for His own dwelling place and the seat of His pure worship. Hence, in various passages it is called His rest (Psalms 95:11 and Psalm 132:14).

At the end of the verse, Joshua is praised for his obedience, so that posterity might learn by his example to cultivate pure piety in that land. There seems, therefore, to be a kind of tacit comparison or antithesis by which the land of Canaan is extolled above all other countries.