The twelve tribes of Israel, progressing to the point of entering the Promised Land, crossed over Jordan. Joshua had twelve stones removed from the river and set up on the other side. He instructed his followers that when future generations asked, "What mean ye by these stones?" they were to be told how "the waters of Jordan were cut off"Josh. 4:6, 7; so that the Israelites could pass over on dry ground.
The question Joshua envisioned might be applied to events of significance to Christian Scientists. Toward the beginning of the twentieth century, soon after the construction of the Original Mother Church, Mrs. Eddy saw that the Christian Science movement had already progressed to the point of needing a larger edifice. The extension of The Mother Church was then built, and many asked figuratively, "What mean ye by these stones?"
The incoming President of The Mother Church, in his address at the Annual Meeting of 1906, gave an answer to this question. He said: "The answer is, The way out of the wilderness of human beliefs has been revealed. Through the understanding of God as an ever-present help, the sick are being healed, the shackles of sin are being broken, heavy burdens are being laid down, tears are being wiped away, and Israel is going up to possess the promised land of eternal, harmonious existence."The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany by Mrs. Eddy, pp. 43, 44;
