At the beginning of our parashah, the Most High grants Phinehas his reward because he removed My wrath from the children of Israel by being zealous for My zeal within them. And what was the reward? "Behold, I give him My covenant of peace." .
This literally means that Hashem granted him the Covenant of the Kehunah—the priesthood—and that his subsequent descendants must be Kohanim—priests. Our Sages, of blessed memory, say: "Phinjas is Elijah." Elijah the prophet was also a zealot like Pinchas, as he himself said: "I have been zealous for Hashem, the God of Hosts." He even spoke negatively about the people of Israel. As a consequence, Hashem gave him the "covenant of peace," meaning that he should adopt a benevolent attitude toward every Jew, and that Elijah should come to every circumcision to see how devoted the Jews are to God and keep His covenant.
""Covenant of peace" also alludes to the union between body and soul. This was clearly seen in the case of Elijah the prophet. His soul did not leave his body, but ascended "with a whirlwind" to Heaven with his physical body.
This possibility of ascending to Heaven with his body was a consequence of the absolute purification of his physical body. Elijah purified his body to such an extent that it ceased to be an obstacle to the spirit, becoming instead a vessel for the presence of spiritual holiness. Because of this, Elijah did not need to die and be buried, and his earthly body was able to ascend and receive all spiritual revelations.
At this point, Elijah the Prophet (Eliyahu Hanavi) was superior even to Moses (Moshe Rabbeinu). It is true that Moses also possessed a holy and purified body. His body was holy from the very moment of his birth, as it is said that when he was born, "the whole house was filled with light," which testifies that the body did not obstruct the light of the soul, but rather that the light of the soul burst forth and illuminated even through the body.
But despite this, Moses died, and his body required burial, since the light of his soul did not penetrate him sufficiently to bring about a fundamental change in the physical body. While his soul resided within him, his body did not conceal its light, but the body itself failed to transcend its materialism. In contrast, Elijah purified his body completely, until it became a vessel and instrument of holiness and spirit.
This explains why Elijah is precisely the herald who will announce the Messianic redemption, since this special quality of Elijah is to be the distinguishing characteristic of the redemption—then the matter of this world will be totally purified, until matter itself becomes a vessel and instrument of Divine Holiness. And so it is written concerning the time of redemption: "And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see"—that is, flesh itself (matter) must see "that the mouth of the Lord has spoken.".
This is the deepest meaning of the "peace covenant" given to Phinehas, and had we possessed this power, our entry into the Land of Israel would have immediately become true and complete redemption. But because undesirable elements were introduced, messianic redemption was delayed until our time. However, the Prophet Elijah, the herald of goodness, will soon arrive and announce the coming of the Righteous Messiah, who will liberate us with eternal redemption—true and complete redemption.