‘ And the Captain of YHWH's host said to Joshua, “Put off your shoe from off your foot, for the place on which you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.'
Compare for this incident Exodus 3:5 where Moses too was told to remove his shoes for the same reason. And like Moses Joshua, aware that he was in a heavenly presence, and that nothing earthly must contaminate the place, removed his shoes. His clothing had been ‘sanctified' prior to crossing the Jordan (Joshua 3:5). But while YHWH was revealed there the ground was ‘holy', as Sinai had been when YHWH appeared on it. No human being dared therefore be there except with His express permission, and no man made materials must touch the sacred earth.
We note that there was no direct reply to Joshua's question. No reply was needed. The drawn sword was God's answer. They were to go forward in His name, seize the country and destroy and drive out the evil Canaanites, accomplishing in one stroke two vital things, the inheritance of the land by Israel as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6) and God's judgment on, and annihilation of, sin and iniquity. This was the vision. Both were equally important. It was the failure to do the second which would prevent the fulfilling of the first. We may be inclined to draw most help from this passage from the idea that God is with us, but we must not overlook the drawn sword, expressive of God's hatred of sin. That is a warning that sin must not be treated lightly. Thus was renewed Joshua's intimate experience of YHWH (Exodus 24:13; Exodus 33:11).