What is the reproach of Egypt? Rolling away the shame of the past.
Joshua 5:9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." So the place has been called Gilgal to this day.
What do you think the reproach of Egypt means? One meaning of the word is 'He has rolled away the shame of Egypt'. This means that even though they were God's people and in a covenant with Him, they were actually still in a position of slavery. They were supposed to be God's children. He had a land for them and promises for them but there they were being treated as slaves. So for the nation, this place called Gilgal became really important because it was here that the shame of what had happened to them prior to this was rolled away. It was taken off them. Gilgal means 'a rolling'; it means that something is rolled off you which actually oppressed you. We need not let our past failures hang over us, we need to let the past go and go on into what Christ has for us. At Gilgal God began to remove and roll away all of the things that had oppressed them. For the Christian this is really important because there are things that we have done which we feel guilty about, and God wants us to allow Him to roll the shame of this away. In the risen Christ and on redemption ground these things are no longer a hindrance to us. Gilgal was pivotal for Israel and it is pivotal for us as Christians. It is the place of the Cross. It is the place of death. It is the place of resurrection. But it is also the place of self judgement. We need to judge our own lives first before God can use us. Now the things of the past no longer hindered Israel; God was freeing them so that they could now inherit what He had in store for them.
From: Joshua Chapter 5: The significance and meaning of Gilgal