In reading Joshua 21, you will no doubt need a map again. The one below is taken from http://www.actsseventeen.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/refuge-cities.jpg.
Numbers 35 specified that the Levites, though they received no inheritance in the land of Canaan, were to receive towns in which to live. The Levites were descendants of Jacob’s son, Levi. There were three boys: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
The descendants of Kohath (the “Kohathites’) transported the ark and tabernacle furniture through the wilderness. They received towns from the central hill country, the very heart of Israel and its early center of worship. The Gershonites transported the tabernacle’s textiles and coverings through the wilderness and received Levitical towns in Galilee and Bashan. The Merarites guarded the tabernacle and transported its structural components. They received towns on the east side of the Jordan and in the Zebulun areas. There were forty eight towns in all. This is not only choice real-estate, but important real-estate, and it was to belong to the priestly tribe. It shows us how much the Lord cares for those whose lives are spent in His service.
But the point of the text is given at the end of chapter twenty-one. With the allotment of the Levitical cities and the cities of refuge, all the Lord’s promises had come true. It was certainly true that Israel had not done all that God required, but God fulfilled His promises.
God will always be true. On that we can depend.