Bereshit 50:24,25 record that before Yosef died, he made his brothers swear that when the Jewish people would leave Egypt, they would take his bones with them to bury them in the last of Israel. This request was fulfilled, (Shemot 13:19 and Joshua 24:32) but it is odd that the emphasis in the Torah is only that Yosef would be buried in the land of Israel and not his brothers. Bereshit Rabbah (100:11, also see Rashi on Shemot 13:19) records that all the brothers were buried in Israel, but the Torah only specifies that Yosef was to be buried in the land of Israel.
Why was it important for Yosef to be buried in the land of Israel, and if it was so important that Yosef be buried in Israel, why was he not buried there immediately after he died as Yaakov was? Furthermore, Yosef told his brothers, that in the future G-d would take the people out of Egypt. How did Yosef know this fact?
My understanding is that Yosef knew the prophecy that G-d told to Avraham (Avram) in the “covenant of the pieces," that the fourth generation would return to the land of Israel, 15:16. Furthermore, Yosef, the great-grandson of Avraham, understood that his burial in Israel was the fulfillment of the prophecy, and even though he was returning dead, this was considered as being returned, see our discussion on 15:16, "Who is the fourth generation?" Thus Yosef had to return to the land of Israel, but for a long time (always?) he was unable to leave Egypt and also his brothers were unable to leave even temporarily to bury him. In addition, for the prophecy to have any significance, Yosef had to return when all the people were coming to live in the land of Israel. Thus, Yosef did not ask his brothers to immediately bury him in Israel after he died, but only made them swear that they would take him when all the people left.
Yet, why did Yosef have to make his brothers swear since in any event his return was promised to Avraham? The answer, just like by Yaakov making Yosef swear to him to bury him in the land of Israel is that a person must make an effort to fulfill G-d's prophecy and not be passive to depend on G-d to do everything. In the end, a person's effort may not be crucial to the fulfillment of the prophecy but still a person must do what he can, and here Yosef, by making his brothers swear, was doing what he could to fulfill the prophecy to Avraham.
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