The Exodus from Egypt in the Bible

The exodus from Egypt is the great redemptive act of the Old Testament, the moment when God delivered Israel from four centuries of slavery and forged them into His covenant people. After the tenth plague broke Pharaoh's resistance, Exodus 12.31 records his surrender: "And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said." That same night the deliverance came to pass, for Exodus 12.51 declares, "And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies." The defining miracle of the exodus was the parting of the Red Sea. As the Egyptian army pursued, Exodus 14.21 tells how "Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land." Then Exodus 14.22 describes Israel's passage: "And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left." Through it all God led them visibly, for Exodus 13.21 says He went before them "by day in a pillar of a cloud... and by night in a pillar of fire." The exodus became Israel's song of salvation and the foundation of their faith. After crossing, Exodus 15.1 records, "Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD," celebrating that the Lord "hath triumphed gloriously." Generations later, Deuteronomy 6.21 commanded parents to teach their children, "We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand." For Christians, the exodus prefigures the greater redemption in Christ, who delivers His people from the bondage of sin and leads them to the promised inheritance.