Caleb was one of the 12 men sent by Moses to spy out the land of Canaan (Num 13). He represented the tribe of Judah, Joshua that of Ephraim.  Only he and Joshua urged the people to go in and take possession of Canaan.  While Joshua became Moses' successor, nothing more was heard of Caleb for 45 years, until the division of the land.  At this time, he led the tribe of Judah to Joshua, and reminded him of God's promise many years before:
    
          So on that day Moses swore to me, 'The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly" (Josh 14:9).
       
God had not only preserved Caleb alive, but had kept him strong and vigorous, and ready to attack the Anakites who lived in Hebron.  Is it coincidence that the allotment for Caleb contained the burial place of Abraham and Sarah, the progenitors of the promise?  Caleb had a passion for the word originally given to Abraham, he shared the vision of his forefather in a way equalled only by Joshua.  And he held to that belief throughout decades of wandering in the wilderness, as he watched his contemporaries die off.  Yet he was not destined to have a public role, nor is he mentioned in the "heroes of faith" role call in Hebrews 11 -- perhaps because, unlike them, he did receive in this life what God had promised him.  Finally the day arrived when he emerged from anonymity to claim his inheritance, the resting place of Abraham.