The Phinehas section begins with the reward God gives Phinehas, continues with the order of the division of the Land of Israel, then with the appointment of Joshua as leader of the Jewish people, who will lead them into the Land of Israel, and finally with the section on offerings, some of which could only be fulfilled within the Land of Israel. Clearly, there is a connection between Phinehas and the other matters mentioned. Furthermore, our sages tell us that if it were not for the Jewish people's sin, their first entry into the Land of Israel would have resulted in the final and complete Redemption, from which they would never have gone into exile. Therefore, it follows that the details of the entry into the Land are similar to the future Redemption. This matter is also related to Phinehas, since our sages say that "Phinhas is Elijah," who will inform us of the Redemption.
The main novelty of the times of Redemption will be that the verse "And your teacher will no longer be hidden" will be fulfilled, meaning that God will no longer conceal Himself behind garments and camouflage, but will be found in revealed form. Currently, Divine light illuminates the world through garments and condensations (tzimtzumím), which cause a revelation of a compressed and limited Divine reflection only. On the contrary, in the times of Redemption, the Divine light itself will illuminate, without condensations and concealments.
These two levels of Exile and Redemption are also found in the soul of man. There is the reflection of the soul, that is, how it compresses and invests itself in defined potentials, and there is the soul itself, as it is in its complete essence, without limits.
As long as we are dealing with the limited levels of the soul, there is the possibility of consideration and judgment on one side or the other, and even when a decision is made, the strength of that determination depends on the intellectual reasoning or emotional feeling that generated it. There cannot be unlimited surrender, since the soul's potentials, from which the decision arises, are themselves measured and limited.
On the other hand, when the essence of the soul is revealed in a person, it expresses itself in the form of absolute surrender, without limits or limits. We define this as mesirut nefesh - "surrender of the soul", literally - since in the essence of the soul there are no limits or considerations on one side or the other, but absolute surrender, above motives, reasons and explanations.
Pinchas represents this mesirut nefesh. He sacrificed himself even for something that, according to the law, he was not obligated to do. If he had asked in court what to do, they would not have told him to do what he did (kill Zimri), since the law of "jealousy touches him" is the type of law that "does not respond to questioning." In Pinchas, the point of... mesirut nefesh, which is above all consideration, therefore, he did not wait to be told what to do, but gave himself completely and did what had to be done.
This is the relationship between Pinchas and Redemption: Final Redemption will come precisely through him mesirut nefesh, This is not measured by rational or emotional considerations. This is the work required of us, standing at the "heels of the Messiah," on the eve of the Redemption: to surrender ourselves completely to God and to the fulfillment of His Will, above all consideration and limitation. Thus we will be worthy that "Phinchas is Elijah," who will come and give us the news of the coming of our righteous Messiah, speedily in our days.
Extracted from www.chabad.org.il