And He said, "I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid of going down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up (Genesis 46:3-4)

The Holy Tongue always speaks of entry into Eretz Yisrael as aliya, ascent, and conversely, of leaving the Land as yerida, descent, an approach which is followed by modern Hebrew.
Our Sages state that "Eretz Yisrael is higher than all other lands." [Babylonian Talmud, Zevaḥim 54b] Quite clearly, our Sages did not refer to topographical elevation, rather their intention is that the Land occupies the highest spiritual elevation.
Rabbi Avraham Rivlin, the emeritus mashgiaḥ ruḥani (spiritual mentor) of my alma mater, Yeshivat Kerem b'Yavne, comments that "if a resident of the Himalayas descends the mountains to dwell in the Land of Israel, he will be an oleh, one who ascends; conversely, one who leaves Israel to live in the Himalayas will be a yored, one who descends.
Rabbi Rivlin adds the interesting comment that Hebrew is the only language which relates subjectively and on an ethical level to a particular land. In other languages, one who emigrates from land “a” to land “b” is an emigree, regardless of the direction of migration.
Rabbi Rivlin suggests that ultimately, "one who descends aspires to ascend." One who understands that leaving the Holy Land constitutes a descent, will strive to return to her.



Based upon these comments, Rabbi Rivlin explains our verses homiletically. In God's words to Jacob "Do not be afraid of going down to Egypt," He hinted that if Jacob sees his impending journey to Egypt as a descent from the Land, then he can be reassured that "I will also bring you up," for then, and only then, will he be guaranteed to return. Jacob's fear of going down to Egypt, a fear rooted in the spiritual descent from the Land of Israel, is itself the guarantee that he will be privileged to return and ascend to the Land. (David Magence)

Shabbat Shalom!
The Va’ad