Sarah lived 127 years and died in Kiriath-arba (Hebron) in Canaan. Abraham asked for a site to bury her from the Hittites. They let him choose anywhere because the said he is God’s chosen one among them. He asked for the cave of Machpelah, and would pay the full price for it. Ephron the Hittite said “yes” and tried to refuse payment, but Abraham insisted. The land was worth 400 shekels of silver, and Abraham paid it in the presence of the Hittites. Everything from Ephron’s field at Machpelah near Mamre – the field with its cave and all the trees anywhere within the boundaries of the field became Abraham’s possession. This is where Abraham buried Sarah.
In this chapter we see how much Abraham honored his wife, and we also see the death of a very important woman in God’s plan of redemption. This is the beginning of the close of one generation, making way for God’s plan to continue to work through the next generation. Also, we see that Abraham is still a sojourner in this world. He has been sojourning for about 62 years. He started sojourning with Lot at age 75 (Gen. 12:4), and he is about 10 years older than Sarah, so he would have been about 137 years old (Abraham was about 10 years older than Sarah Gen. 17:17; 21:5). So from age 75 to 137 he sojourned, that’s 62 years of being without a home and it’s in this manner of life that here he loses his wife. This is a vivid example of how even when God makes covenant promises to His people they will live in this world in a manner that it is not their home. This only builds our hope for our eternal home which is accessed only through the gospel of Jesus Christ, a city whose designer and builder is God! Consider the outcome of Abraham and Sarah’s faith in Hebrews 11:10-11, “For [Abraham] was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him [God] faithful who had promised.” God provided in their sojourning, so even as we sojourn let us look forward to our true home with Christ forever!