The journey from Sinai was proceeding slowly. Moses had his eyes set on the good (tov in Hebrew) awaiting them in the Promised Land, but too many of the people were focused on perceived negative aspects of their situation (ra in Hebrew). The camp apparently spent a month at Kibroth-Hataavah and an extra week at Hazeroth. The overall mindset of the group would have to change for progress to Canaan to be possible.
So it was worth it for Israel to stay put for another 40 days while a group of 12 tribal leaders took a tour of the Promised Land. If they could communicate to the group the attractions of the land, the people's minds could be changed.
One of those attractions was the nearby town of Hebron, where Abraham had spent much time, and where the patriarchs and matriarchs were buried at Machpelah. The idea of returning to the place where the bones of their ancestors lay had the potential to capture the imaginations of the Israelites.
Jewish tradition (e.g., b. Sotah 34b) says that this potential was realized for just one of the scouts---Caleb. The tradition is based on a couple of biblical passages. One is Numbers 14:24, where God promises that Caleb's descendants would possess the land "into which he went." Caleb later was granted Hebron (Joshua 14:6-15).
The other is Numbers 13:22, where the Hebrew says that "they went up into the Negev, and he came to Hebron." The conclusion is that "he" refers to Caleb, perhaps the only one of the group who bothered to visit Machpelah.
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