There were six cities selected from the forty-eight Levitical cities as refuges for homicides, three of which were on either side of the Jordan. Their chief interest now lies in their application to Christ (Heb. 6:18). Dispensationally Num. 35 may refer to Israel, who have been guilty of manslaughter (Acts 3:17), rather than murder, and hence, although cast off, they are not nationally destroyed, but remain out of their land until Christ, our great high priest, takes the character of king and comes forth to reign, when Israel will return safely to the land of their possession (Num. 35:25, 28).