(24) At length, Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. God will surely take notice of you and bring you up from this land to the land promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” (25) So Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “When God has taken notice of you, you shall carry up my bones from here.”

ויאמר יוסף אל אחיו....וישבע יוסף, “Joseph spoke to his brothers and he made them swear an oath;” It is difficult to understand why Joseph repeated the words פקוד יפקוד. We would have expected him to say: “when G–d will remember you and take you out of Egypt, take my remains with you.” This would have been parallel to Yaakov’s last request from his son Joseph.” (Compare Genesis 47,30) We may be correct in assuming that the first time he used the expression פקוד יפקוד, this was meant as a reference to how Yaakov his father had introduced a similar request.

When I lie down with my ancestors, take me up from Egypt and bury me in their burial-place.” He replied, “I will do as you have spoken.”

ויאמר אנכי אעשה כדבריך. He said: "l will do in accordance with your instructions." Why did Joseph have to announce that he was going to do all this? All he had to do was to place his hand where his father had asked and make the promise and that would be his reply to his father's request. This is what Eliezer did when Abraham made him swear an oath concerning his selecting a wife for Isaac (Genesis 24,9).

אנכי אעשה כדבריך, “I am going to do in accordance with your instructions.” According to the Midrash, Yaakov’s request to be buried in the land of Canaan inspired Joseph to make the same request of his brothers when the time came for him to die. We find that Joseph indeed made his brothers swear that his remains would be taken with the Israelites at the time of the redemption, and Moses personally, was involved in locating his coffin which was carried with the Israelites for 40 years until eventually being interred near Sh’chem in the tribal territory of Ephraim, one of his sons. He used the same formula when making his request as had his father at the time. (Compare Genesis 50,24-26) The choice of the Torah describing Joseph’s response as “the words of” instead of simply “his request,” or something similar, is why Rashi (in Exodus 3,18) says that before Moses came to Egypt and introduced himself as the redeemer, G–d told him that the elders would listen to him as he introduced himself with the words: פקוד יפקוד, that Joseph had used at the time when he stood at his father’s deathbed and they spoke about the eventual redemption, long before even the enslavement had commenced. This was also the reason why Yaakov had used this formula for describing the redemption.

וימת יוסף בן מאה ועשר שנים “Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten.” According to the Talmud (Sotah 9), Joseph, who had buried his father, received his reward in that someone greater than either he or his father, namely Moses, took care of his earthly remains. Exodus 13,19 relates that Moses took the remains of Joseph. This was not as simple as it seems, and our sages (Tanchuma Beshalach 2) describe how Moses lowered a plate or piece of parchment on which he had written “arise ox” into the river Nile. He called out: “Joseph, Joseph, your brethren are about to be redeemed and your absence is delaying the Presence of G’d from moving with us. If you want to be redeemed and to join our journey, arise! If you fail to arise now, we will be free from the oath you have made us swear to take you along.” All of this had become necessary because the Egyptians had placed Joseph’s body in a metal coffin and had hidden it by lowering it into the river Nile to prevent the Israelites from having access to it. This is the deeper meaning of the final words of the Book of Genesis ויישם בארון במצרים, “he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.”
Moses also received a reward for having performed these rites on Joseph by Someone greater than he when G’d Himself buried him (Deut. 34,6). This teaches us that anyone who engages in the performance of מצות can look forward to great reward. Such a reward may accrue to him many years after he performed the good deed in question. If he did not receive his reward for the מצוה while alive on earth, he may be sure that his deed has been recorded by G’d and he will receive the appropriate reward in the hereafter. These considerations are another reason for encouraging people to perform מצות with eagerness instead of dragging their feet while doing so. However, one must be careful not to perform these מצות in order to become known as a pious individual or in order to reap the benefit in terms of honor received by one’s peers. The performance of מצות should only be designed to confer honor on G’d and His Holy Name. The psalmist (Psalms 131,3) expressed it best when he said: ”O Israel wait for the Lord now and forever.” We also have a verse in Psalms 31,25: “be strong and of good courage, all you who wait for the Lord.” A third verse conveying a similar message is found in Jeremiah 17,7: “Blessed is he who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is in the Lord alone.” Finally, Isaiah 26,4 conveys the same message when he wrote: “Trust in the Lord forever and ever, for in The Lord G’d you have an everlasting Rock.”

When he calls on Me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in distress;
I will rescue him and make him honored;

Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow will be the new moon; and you will be missed when your seat remains vacant.

ושמעו לקלך AND THEY SHALL HEARKEN TO THY VOICE — as soon as you will mention to them this expression (the double use of the verb פקד as in v. 16) they will hearken to your voice, for they have long had this sign as a tradition from Jacob and Joseph that by mention of this phrase their deliverance will be brought about. Jacob said to them “And God will surely visit you”, and Joseph said to them (Genesis 50:25) “God will surely visit you”.