Pointing to Jesus (Exodus 14)

Summary:

Exodus 14

Trapped between the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s pursuing army, Israel panics and accuses Moses of leading them to death. 

God commands Moses to stretch out his staff, and the Lord divides the sea by a strong east wind, creating a dry path with walls of water on both sides. Israel walks through on dry ground while the pillar of cloud/fire stands between them and the Egyptians. 

When Pharaoh’s chariots follow, Moses stretches out his hand again, the waters return, and the entire Egyptian army is drowned. 

Israel sees the Egyptians dead on the shore, fears the Lord, and believes in Him and in His servant Moses.

Pointing to Jesus:

The crossing of the Red Sea is a corporate baptism into salvation and judgment (1 Cor 10:1–2). 

Israel passes safely through the waters only because the Lord Himself fights for them; they contribute nothing but terrified faith. 

This is a stunning picture of effectual calling and union with Christ: God’s elect are brought through the waters of death and judgment while still helpless and unbelieving (“Why did you bring us out to die?”). 

The same waters that save Israel utterly destroy Pharaoh and his host—exactly as Christ’s death and resurrection both deliver the elect and condemn the reprobate. 

The Red Sea is the decisive demonstration that salvation is monergistic: the same sovereign power that hardens Pharaoh hardens him unto destruction, while irresistibly drawing a fearful people to safety. Jesus is the greater Moses who not only leads us through the waters but actually enters the greater flood of God’s wrath for us, emerging victorious on the other side so that we walk through death dry-shod, clothed in His righteousness.

Reflection:

Exodus 14 is the pattern of every Christian’s biography.

•  We are constantly being hemmed in—pursued by the guilt of sin, the accusations of Satan, the hostility of the world, and the remnants of our own unbelief. In those moments the gospel sounds absurd (“Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord”), and faith feels like the most impractical thing imaginable.

•  Yet salvation always comes when we are stripped of every human resource. The Lord will not let us escape Egypt on our own terms; He waits until the chariots are bearing down so that no flesh may boast.

•  The Christian life is therefore a continual walking between walls of water—hearing the roar of judgment we once deserved, yet finding the ground firm beneath our feet because Christ has gone ahead. We look back and see our former tyrants (sin, death, the devil) drowned in the baptistery of the cross and empty tomb.
This fills us with the same song Israel will sing in chapter 15: awe at God’s power, terror at what we once were, and ever-deepening trust in the One who still says today, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord… The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”