Before God chose the land of Israel as His special territory, every land on earth was equally suitable for divine speech. Prophecy could happen anywhere. But once Israel was chosen, all other lands were excluded from that privilege.
The Mekhilta traces a pattern of sacred narrowing that runs through all of Jewish history. The same principle applied to Jerusalem. Before Jerusalem was selected as the holy city, every place within the land of Israel was kosher for building altars. People could offer sacrifices wherever they wished. But once Jerusalem was chosen, every other location in the land was excluded. As it is written in (Deuteronomy 12:13-14), "Take heed unto yourself lest you offer your burnt-offerings in every place that but in the place that the Lord shall choose."
This teaching reveals something fundamental about how the rabbis understood holiness. Sanctity in Judaism is not diffuse or abstract — it is concentrated. God deliberately narrows the field, selecting one land from among all lands, one city from within that land. Each act of divine choosing simultaneously elevates the chosen and excludes everything else. The pattern suggests that holiness requires boundaries. Without limits, nothing is truly set apart. The rabbis saw in this narrowing process not a restriction but a gift — the creation of a sacred center around which all of Jewish worship and spiritual life would orbit for millennia to come.