亚伯拉罕充满了复活的盼望。亚伯拉罕也许说，“撒拉，你必须晓得，你不是葬在这里。你不过是在这里休息。我为你豫备了最好的卧室，在你等候那日的期间可以在这里休息。若是那日遥远的话，我会来与你成为一，我们要一同安息。这就是我买了洞也买了田的原因。看看田间的生命。这不是死亡之地，乃是生命之地。”
在圣经里，田表征生命的长大，就是复活。甚至今天也是这样。你若不相信复活。请你看看麦田。麦子种下不久，就又长起来。生长的田地表征复活，但浮木表征死亡。亚伯拉罕不是把撒拉放进死亡之地，乃是放进生命之地，就是满了复活之地。她埋葬的洞是在田头（创二三9），附近有许多树木（创二三17）。假定麦比拉洞的周围是成堆的浮木，人看见了就会觉得那是死亡之地，了结之地。但麦比拉洞不是了结之地，乃是满了复活盼望之地。那是在通往复活的路上。在这地方，当撒拉等候那日来临的时候，她能安然睡觉。倘若她能说话，她会说，“我不是在死地等候。我是在活地。看看田和树木。有一天，我要在复活里。”亚伯拉罕在仰望一个更美的家乡，和一座有根基的城，撒拉的死并没有使他失望。反之，这事激起他对要来之日的期盼。因此，他一心一意，花了大笔金钱为撒拉、自己和后裔买了坟地。我们若有新约的亮光，就会晓得这指明复活的期盼。
我们所以知道创世记二十三章指明复活的盼望，乃因主耶稣说，亚伯拉罕的神，以撒的神，雅各的神，不是死人的神，乃是活人的神（太二二31-32）。在我们眼中，亚伯拉罕、以撒、雅各是死的，但在神眼中，他们是活的。
我们的先祖亚伯拉罕，神所呼召的人，不太留意现今，但他的确留意将来。最好的坟地是为着将来。原则上，我们也不该为着现今豫备更好的屋子，乃该为着将来豫备门路。我们在这里不是为着今天，乃是为着明天。主若迟延祂的回来，我们都要进入这门。我们不该过于留意现今，乃该留意将来。我们该住在帐棚里，仰望那座有根基的城。
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Looking for the City Which Has Foundation – Heb. 11:9-10
Abraham was full of the hope of resurrection. Abraham might have said, “Sarah, you have to know that you are not buried here. You are just resting here. I have prepared the best bedroom for you to rest in while you wait for that day. If that day is far off, I will come and be joined to you, and we will rest together. This is why I bought the cave and also the field. Look at the life in the field. This is not a place of death, but a place of life.”
In the Bible, the field signifies the growth of life, which is resurrection. Even today it is the same. If you do not believe in resurrection, please look at the wheat field. Wheat is sown, and soon it grows up again. The growing field signifies resurrection, but driftwood signifies death. Abraham did not put Sarah into a place of death, but into a place of life, a place full of resurrection. The cave where she was buried was at the end of the field (Gen. 23:9), and there were many trees nearby (Gen. 23:17). Suppose the surroundings of the cave of Machpelah were piles of driftwood; seeing it, one would feel that it was a place of death, a place of termination. But the cave of Machpelah is not a place of termination; it is a place full of the hope of resurrection. It is on the way to resurrection. In this place, while Sarah waits for the coming of that day, she can sleep peacefully. If she could speak, she would say, “I am not waiting in a place of death. I am in a place of life. Look at the field and the trees. One day, I will be in resurrection”. Abraham was looking for a better country and a city with foundations; Sarah’s death did not disappoint him. On the contrary, this matter stirred up his expectation of the coming day. Therefore, he was single-minded and spent a large sum of money to buy the burying place for Sarah, himself and his descendants. If we have the light of the New Testament, we will realize that this indicates the expectation of resurrection.
The reason we know that Genesis 23 indicates the hope of resurrection is that the Lord Jesus said that the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Matt. 22:31-32). In our eyes, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are dead, but in God’s eyes, they are living.
Our forefather Abraham, a man called by God, did not pay much attention to the present, but he did pay attention to the future. The best burying place was for the future. In principle, we also should not prepare a better house for the present, but we should prepare the way for the future. We are here not for today, but for tomorrow. If the Lord delays His coming, we all must enter this gate. We should not pay too much attention to the present, but we should pay attention to the future. We should dwell in a tent, looking for the city which has foundations.