Exodus 14:15-31
15 And the LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. 16 But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. 17 And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
19 And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. 20 So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.
21 Then 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 into dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
24 Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the LORD looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians. 25 And He took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.”
26 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” 27 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28 Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. 29 But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
30 So the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Thus Israel saw the great work which the LORD had done in Egypt; so the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD and His servant Moses.
God’s people were baptized by grace in their salvation from the bondage of Egypt as a picture of deliverance from sin (1 Corinthians 10:1) which His people now find in Christ by faith (Hebrews 10:29) as Moses led them, similar to the previous antitype seen in the deliverance of Noah (1 Peter 3:20-21) through the great flood. They watched Moses lift his rod given by God and stretch it over the overwhelming water before them that held the only way out of danger from the massing army of their former masters. God told Moses to do this and He would divide the waters and deliver them through the way made for them. They were told how they would march their army through (Exodus 12:17) while the army of the Egyptians to follow them would not make it through the way made for God’s people alone. The LORD would be honored in this righteous judgment over the enemy of His people, “over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” In preparation for this, the Angel of God moved the cloud of darkness and light that had led Israel out of bondage from before them to behind them in order to protect them as a shield against the enemy army. We see the pattern here of God making a way through our own impending judgment on our sin, a way through the baptism of His Spirit in Christ to escape our due judgment (Romans 3:23, 6:23) by such grace as He leads us to deliverance and honors His name in doing all the work to save us. This way is only available to the children Jesus has chosen and not to the world who reject Him and do not trust and honor His work on the cross and our of the grave by faith. The Egyptians refused to believe and were unable to follow Israel through the waters, while the faithful trusted and went through the waters on safe dry land for their deliverance. The cloud of light illuminated the way for His chosen and darkened the sight of those hardened by sin and disbelief. When therefore the children of Israel passed through the walls of water and the pursuing Egyptian army was then drowned in that same water afterwards, the enemy experienced the judgment of God as their chariots broke down and the army was bogged down as well. They saw once more that the LORD fought for them as in the ten plagues of judgment prior to Israel’s release from their bondage. The world will likewise see the terrible judgment on the day of the Lord when He returns to judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31, Psalm 9:8, 96:13, 98:9) as long foretold. Only those who have trusted the Lord by believing that He alone delivers from the bondage of sin in which we all born in will be led through to safety as they are baptized into Christ, the Son of God and Passover Lamb who saves His people from that judgment to come on all creation. We who are His see from the other side the great work which the Lord has done and tremble with fearful awe and wonder that strengthens our faith as Israel did when looking back at the enemy swamped in the sea of the last judgment on the Egyptian oppressors after the terrible plagues leading up to that time which did not lead to repentance and faith by obedience to let God’s people go to Him. Like God’s people escaping that judgment through the sea and being baptized in a sense into Him by trust in His word, so we have escaped judgment by that same grace and are baptized into Christ (Romans 6:3, 1 Corinthians 10:1-2, Galatians 3:27) through faith in His word and work. We have been delivered from just judgment and immersed in Christ and His righteousness!
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