From "The Arithmetic of God", penning scribe, Don Kistler:

48 Tabernacle or Dwelling Place

So let's go on to 48. I'd say 48 is a number connected with a Dwelling Place. In Exodus 25:8 we read where God said to Moses concerning Israel and the Tabernacle, "And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them."

By reading Exodus 26:15-25 we find that there are 48 boards in the Wall of the Tabernacle. Twenty on the south side, 20 on the north side and eight on the west end. The east end was closed with a covering of cloth called the Door.

In Joshua 21:41 we read, "All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were FORTY and EIGHT cities with their suburbs." So the Levites had 48 cities in which to dwell.

As I have stated before, in some places I give only enough to justify the number (not I but the Lord). There are many other places where these numbers all come together.