Jacob administered an oath to his sons that they take his body up to the Land of Israel and bury him there, and Joseph commanded the same before his death. The Sages explain the significance of burial in the Land of Israel.

Why did the patriarchs desire burial in the Land of Israel? It is because the dead of the Land of Israel come to life first, before those buried elsewhere, in the days of the messiah, and they will enjoy all the years of the messiah. Rabbi Hananya said: One who dies outside the Land of Israel and is buried there undergoes two deaths...therefore, Jacob said: “Please do not bury me in Egypt” (Genesis 47:29). Rabbi Shimon said to him: If so, the righteous buried outside the Land of Israel suffer, as they will not be resurrected. What does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He burrows tunnels in the ground for the righteous buried outside the Land of Israel, and renders them like these burial caves, through which they roll until they reach the Land of Israel. Once they reach the Land of Israel, the Holy One, blessed be He, implants a spirit of life in them and they rise, as it is stated: “I will take you up from your graves, My people, and I will bring you to the soil of Israel” (Ezekiel 37:12). And thereafter the verse states: “I will put My spirit into you and you will live” (Ezekiel 37:14). There was an incident involving Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi and Rabbi Elazar, who were walking near the city gate outside of Tiberias. They saw the coffin of a deceased person from outside the Land of Israel that was brought to be buried in the Land of Israel. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said to Rabbi Elazar: What has this person accomplished, whose soul departed outside the Land of Israel, and he comes to be buried in the Land of Israel? I read concerning him the verse: “You rendered My inheritance an abomination” (Jeremiah 2:7). During your lifetime you did not ascend to the Land of Israel, and you came and defiled the land upon your death? Rabbi Elazar said to him: Once he is buried in the Land of Israel, the Holy One, blessed be He, grants him atonement for having resided outside of the Land of Israel during his lifetime, as it is stated: “And His land will atone for His people” (Deuteronomy 32:43). (Tanĥuma, Vayhi)