Exodus Bible study: pattern and elements examined

Apr 5, 2024

This article is not your typical book of Exodus Bible study.

If you are looking for detailed information about when Exodus happened, the route the Israelites took to the Promised Land, or who the Pharaoh was at Moses’ time, hit your browser’s back button right now. You won’t find them here.

Instead, you will find in this Exodus Bible study the pattern and elements of the story of Exodus and how they connect to the rest of the Bible and the overall story of Christianity.

The exodus pattern repeats throughout the Bible and plays a vital role in “the creation, fall, new creation narrative” of the Old and New Testament.

With this guide, we aim to equip you with a deeper understanding of the Bible by exploring the exodus pattern and enabling you to connect the elements of exodus to the ongoing story of Christianity, in which you, as a believer, play a vital role.

Contents

What does Exodus mean in the Bible?

Exodus is a story of going down and coming up. It tells a story where God’s chosen people move from slavery to rest. Does that sound familiar? That’s the Bible’s story, from the Fall to life with God in Heaven.

The term “Exodus” in the Bible refers to the second book of the Old Testament and the Torah, which recounts the Israelites’ liberation from slavery in Egypt and their journey to the Promised Land under Moses’ leadership. The word “Exodus” itself comes from Greek and means “departure” or “going out.”

The book of Exodus covers a range of significant events, including the ten plagues inflicted upon Egypt, the Passover, the parting of the Red Sea, the receiving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, and the construction of the Tabernacle. It is a foundational text for Jews and Christians and holds great religious and historical significance for these faiths.

Exodus is a significant event; the Bible frequently refers to it in the Old and New Testaments. God not only prophesied the Exodus to Abraham in Genesis 15 but also arranged many similar events to typologically hint at Israel’s journey out of Egypt. Many Biblical events repeat the pattern of Exodus, which teaches us the meaning of these events and vice versa.

Exodus has many meanings in the Bible.

Exodus is Israel’s birth story.
It is a story of marriage between God and His people.
It is a return to the Garden of Eden.
The story typologically prophesies the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and His redemptive work for humanity and the Creation.

You will get a solid grip on the above themes by studying the pattern of exodus, which originated in Creation Week.

Creation Week gives humanity a pattern to follow

To better understand Exodus, we must briefly recap Genesis 1. Many things in the Bible can be traced back to the first chapters of Genesis, particularly to Creation Week.

Let’s do a short recap of what happened in the very beginning.

In the beginning, God created heaven and earth.

God brought forth light and divided the light from darkness.

God formed two sets of waters and the sky that separates the waters above and the waters below.

God brought out earth from the waters below and created lights in the sky. The lights are for symbols (signs) and to mark time.

God filled the waters and earth with life.

God created man out of earth (dust) in His image. He created humanity as male and female. God formed the woman from the man’s side, and they are to become one flesh.

God arranged formless, empty earth, deep waters, and darkness into a world entire of life in six days.

God saw that everything in the Creation was very good and blessed man.

On the seventh day, God blessed the seventh day and rested. The Sabbath marks rest, enthronement, and judgment.

God gives Adam a commandment, a law, “Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” and tasks to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Following the law, protecting the sanctuary, and communicating the law to others are man’s priestly duties. Man’s kingly duties are multiplying, filling the earth, and taking dominion over it. Naming the animals shows that the pattern is to continue in God’s footsteps.

Man is to hear God’s will, work according to it for six days, and rest on the seventh, dedicating it to God. “Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.”

God gave Adam and Eve a pattern to replicate and a place, the Garden of Eden, to meet with God.

Humans decide not to follow the pattern

Adam’s task was to imitate what God did during Creation Week: to go out from the Garden of Eden and take hold of the world by creating new life (offspring) and arranging it into a habitable place full of meaning. In this place, man would meet God and know Him intimately everywhere. In other words, Adam’s task was to make the rest of the world like the Garden of Eden.

As we all know, it didn’t work out like that because Adam and Eve fell into temptation, sinned, and were cast out from the Garden.

Man’s first sin gradually leads humanity to total enslavement to sin, which progresses to a point where humans’ thoughts are only evil.

Seven generations since the Fall in the Garden, spiritual chaos, darkness, and emptiness have entered the world, and someone must arrange it to be habitable again. Humanity needs an exodus, and God arranges it this time with a human collaborator, Noah.

Exodus is a return to the Garden

Since the Fall, God has been working to get humanity back to the Garden. A new creation with Noah after the Flood results in disaster at the Tower of Babel, and humans are dispersed worldwide. God has to start anew again. Now, it is with Abraham.

Fast-forward several centuries, and Abraham’s descendants have become enslaved in Egypt. God arranges the Exodus from Egypt to fulfill His promises to Abraham. The promise included inheriting the Promised Land (return to the Garden) and becoming the father and blessing for many nations.

God keeps His promises and calls out the next “new Adam,” Moses, to lead Abraham’s seed out of Egypt and into the Promised Land.

How did God deliver on His promise? That’s what we see next.

Elements of exodus

The exodus pattern consists of multiple elements that repeat similarly, creating several exodus stories (types, shadows) throughout the Bible. The pattern gives us clues on how to interpret the Bible, but more importantly, it tells us how God works in His creation.

Hint: God works in patterns, of which Exodus is a prime example.

The below elements can all be found in the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt.

Sinning leads to exile from the Land
God’s people are captured and enslaved
God presents Himself to the chosen person
The serpent attacks the Seed promised in Genesis 3:15, mainly through Eve
God’s people avoid the attack by trickery (tricking the serpent as it did to God’s people in Genesis 3)
Passover lamb sacrificed
God delivers His people from the enslavement
God humiliates idols
God gives His people spoils
God delivers His people across a water
En route to the Promised Land, the old generation dies
God delivers judgment on the old heaven and earth
God establishes a new heaven and new earth
God re-creates the world: New Creation
Sabbath rest, enthronement of God and His chosen person
New covenant
Updated law
Updated way of worship
Promise of God
Name of God
New name for God’s people
Baptism (circumcision, water, purification)
God’s people minister to others, and others join God’s people
God gives His people Land
Conquering of the Land
Building a house for God

Next, we briefly explain each element, how they play out in Israel’s Exodus from Egypt, and how the pattern repeats elsewhere in the Bible.

1 Sinning leads to exile from the Land

Sin takes God’s chosen people out of the Garden “down” to the place of sin. The exile happens either due to the chosen people’s sin or the sin of the nation where the chosen people reside. (Famines are God’s punishment for guilty people.) They need an Exodus from the sinful place and a return back “up” to the Garden.

In the Exodus story, Jacob’s sons’ sin drove the Seed, Joseph, away from the Land. Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, and he ended up in Egypt. Later, the whole area from Egypt to Israel encountered a severe famine that drove the rest of Jacob’s family, including the treacherous brothers, to Egypt, where Joseph saved them. God’s chosen people were now off from the Promised Land.

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

Adam’s sin got humanity expelled from the Garden (Gen 3), located on a mountain, down to the world.
Due to the scattering of people after the Tower of Babel, the Seed, Abraham, resided in Ur in Babylonia (Gen 12:1).
Abraham “went down into Egypt” because of a famine in the Land of Canaan (Gen 12:10).
A famine drove Isaac to the Philistine (Gen 26:1).
Esau’s sin drove the Seed, Jacob, out from the Land (Gen 27:41-43).
The corruption of both Israel and Judah lead to Assyrian and Babylonian exiles.
After the crucifixion of Jesus, God destroyed the Temple and Jerusalem in 70 AD.

2 God’s people are captured and enslaved

God’s people are either captured there and then by an evil force and enslaved, or the circumstances (usually sinning) drive God’s people to an idolatrous place where they get enslaved.

Decades passed while the Hebrews resided in Egypt, and the Pharaoh, favorable to Joseph, died. Later, a new, evil Pharaoh saw Hebrews as a threat and enslaved them into hard labor. The Pharaoh made them build his “treasure-cities” with bricks (same word in Gen 11 and Ex 1 and 5 for bricks) just like people were building cities and the Tower of Bable in Genesis 11 with Nimrod.

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

Pharaoh kidnapped Sarah from Abraham (Gen 12:15).
Abimelech, king of Gerar, captured Sarah (Gen 20:2).
Laban tricked Jacob into working 14 years for his wives and 6 years for his flock (Gen 31:38-42). Jacob had to flee to get his freedom (Gen 31).
Joseph was captured by his brothers and sold into slavery in Egypt (Gen 37:27-28).
Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant (1 Samuel 4:11).

3 God presents Himself to the chosen person

God selects a person to lead His chosen people. God presents Himself to the person and reassures him that He will be with the leader no matter what. Depending on God’s promises to the chosen person, he either secures the Land, Seed, or both.

God chooses Moses as the leader of the Hebrews and presents Himself to Moses famously in a burning bush.

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

God created Adam, put him in the Garden, and gave him commandments (Gen 2).
Noah found favor in God’s eyes (Gen 6).
God presented Himself to Abraham (Gen 12).
Isaac got a personal revelation from God (Gen 26:12).
Jacob had many visits from God. In the most famous one, Jacob wrestles with God (Gen 32).
Joseph dreamt of his brothers bowing down to him. (Gen 37) Later, he acknowledged that God helps him interpret dreams (Gen 40:8).
God spoke to David directly (1 Sam 23).
God speaks to Jonah many times and orders him to go preach against Nineveh (Book of Jonah).
Ultimately, Jesus is the fulfillment of all the chosen leaders of the Old Testament.

4 The serpent attacks the Seed

After the fall, God cursed the Serpent and promised in Genesis 3:15 that the woman’s Seed would crush the Serpent’s head. Therefore, we see the Serpent attack the Seed many times to destroy the chances of this promise to come true.

Being the woman’s seed, the Seed becomes a prime target for the Serpent’s cunning. The Serpent, mirroring its strategy from the Garden of Eden, again attacks through the wife of the chosen person, a type of Eve.

The Serpent is represented by evil people or nations who do the Serpent’s bidding for him.

In Moses’ Exodus, the Serpent was the evil Pharaoh who first ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill all newborn Hebrew boys and later cast all boys into a river (Ex 1:15-22).

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

Before Noah’s flood, the Serpent attacked the Seed through Eve, “daughters of men,” by the Sons of God (Gen 6).
Pharao kidnapped Sarah from Abraham (Gen 12:15).
Abimelech, king of Gerar, captured Sarah (Gen 20:2).
Esau planned to kill Jacob (Gen 27:41).
Saul tried to kill David on many occasions (1 Sam 18-26).
King Herod tried to kill Jesus by ordering a slaughter of baby boys (Matt 2:16).

5 God’s people avoid the serpent’s attack by trickery

When the serpent attacks the Seed, God’s people often respond by tricking the serpent as it did to God’s people in Genesis 3.

The Hebrew midwives didn’t follow the evil orders to kill the newborn boys but tricked the Pharaoh by saying, “because the Hebrew women aren’t like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” (Ex 1)

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

Abraham told Pharao that Sarah was his sister (Gen 12:15).
Abraham told Abimelech, king of Gerar, that Sarah was his sister (Gen 20:2).
Isaac told Abimelech, king of Gerar, that Rebekah was his sister (Gen 26:9).
David acted as a madman to escape from the king of Gath (1 Sam 21:12-14).
Jesus’ Messianic secret hid His true identity and the importance of the crucifixion from the Jewish and Roman leaders of His time (1 Cor 2:8).

6 Passover lamb sacrificed

This element occurs three times in the exodus stories, but it is such a significant event that it must be included in the list.

On the first Passover, every Hebrew household sacrificed a lamb and applied its blood to the doorframe as a sign to God to pass over that house.

Exodus 12:21-27

Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said to them, “Draw out, and take lambs according to your families, and kill the Passover. You shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two door posts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. For Yahweh will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel, and on the two door posts, Yahweh will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to strike you. You shall observe this thing for an ordinance to you and to your sons forever. It shall happen when you have come to the land which Yahweh will give you, as he has promised, that you shall keep this service. It will happen, when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ that you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of Yahweh’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians, and spared our houses.’”

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

In Moses’ Exodus, the Passover lamb was sacrificed before crossing the Red Sea. In Joshua’s “reverse exodus,” the lamb was sacrificed after crossing the Jordan River (Joshua 5:10).
Jesus is the ultimate Passover lamb, sacrificed for the sins of the world (John 1:29, 1 Cor 5:7).

7 God delivers His people from slavery

God delivers His chosen people miraculously out of slavery. God leads His people to freedom triumphantly while humiliating the idolatrous nations and putting them under judgment.

God first plagued Egypt with ten plagues through Moses. The final plague during the Passover finally relented Pharao, and he let Israel go, only to pursue them in the desert. God’s miracle opened the Red Sea for Israel, who crossed the waters safely. The same waters brought the final judgment to Pharaos’ evil forces as the waters came crushing on the Egyptian army while they were pursuing the Israelites.

Exodus 14:29-30

But the children of Israel walked on dry land in the middle of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Thus Yahweh saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

God delivered Noah from the Flood in the Ark (Gen 8).
God saved baby Moses from the Pharaoh in an ark. The word for Noah’s Ark in Gen 6-9 is only used for Moses’ Ark (Ex 2) in the Bible.
God helped Joseph correctly interpret Pharao’s and his cupbearer’s dreams to rescue him from the prison and appoint him as the second in command in Egypt (Gen 41, 45:9).
God delivered the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines and brought it to Jerusalem (1 Sam 6, 2 Sam 6).
Jewish people were returned to the Promised Land after the Babylonian exile (Ezra).
Jesus was resurrected after His death on the cross (Luke 24:6-7).
God delivers His Church from this world and the bondage of sin and death to the new world where He is all in all.

8 God humiliates idols

God shows His authority and power over the idols whom the evil nations are worshipping. Usually, this happens by God humiliating them and thus showing how worthless they are.

The Ten Plagues against Egypt were a judgment on the Egyptian gods. Each plague humiliated a different idol that the Egyptians worshipped at that time. For example, they worshipped an idol with a frog’s features. So, God plagued Egypt with frogs, showing that He controls the frogs. If you want frogs to rule over you, you will get frogs to literally run you over.

Exodus 12:12

For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal. I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. I am Yahweh.

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

At the Tower of Babel, humans planned to stay in one place, set a religious system on their terms, and make a name for themselves. God did the opposite to them and scattered them worldwide (Gen 11).
Rachel sits atop Laban’s gods while menstruating (Gen 31).
God destroys a statue of the Philistine idol when the Ark of the Covenant is captured (1 Sam 5).

9 God gives His people spoils

God doesn’t send His people out from slavery empty-handed but gives them spoils and gifts usually offered by the slave traders themselves.

As we can read from Exodus 12 below, this is exactly what happened before Israel departed from Egypt.

Exodus 12:35-36

The children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing. Yahweh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. They plundered the Egyptians.

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

Noah brought his family, animals, and the way of worship to the new world (Gen 8).
Abraham got silver, gold, and cattle from the Pharaoh (Gen 12:16, Gen 13:2).
Jacob left the Land with nothing and returned rich with a big family (Gen 31:16).
Philistines gave gold to Israel when they returned the Ark of the Covenant (1 Sam 6).
God instructed Cyrus, the king of Persia, to give silver, gold, goods, and animals to Jews returning from the Babylonian exile (Ezra 1:4).
The Scriptures, liturgical tradition, and architecture passed from the Old Testament era to the Church.

10 God delivers His people across a water

On the route from captivity to the Promised Land, God’s people often cross a body of water. Crossing water symbolizes purification and a rite of baptism to the chosen people.

In the famous parting of the Red Sea, God delivered Israel safely across the water, destroyed Pharaoh’s army that was closing in on the Israelites, and guided Israel to Mt Sinai. Remember, it is a story of going down and coming up.

Psalm 136:13-15

to him who divided the Red Sea apart;

for his loving kindness endures forever;

and made Israel to pass through the middle of it;

for his loving kindness endures forever;

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

God delivered Noah across the Flood, and the Ark rested on a mountain (Gen 8).
Jacob crosses a river and encamps on a mountain (Gen 31:21).
Joshua leads Israelites across the Jordan River (Joshua 5).
God delivers Jonah across the waters in a fish belly (Jonah).
Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River (Matt 3:16-17).
Christians are baptized in the New Covenant (Matt 28:19).

11 En route to the Promised Land, the old generation dies

God’s people consist of many generations. While they move from the place of sin to the Promised Land, the old generation dies. Often, the old generation points to the new one to come.

The congregation of Israel was notorious for grumbling during Exodus. The incident at Kadesh Barnea kindled God’s anger so much that He swore that that generation would not see the Promised Land. The grumbling resulted in forty years of wilderness wandering, during which the old generation died before ever entering the Land.

Numbers 32:13

Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he made them wander back and forth in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation who had done evil in Yahweh’s sight was consumed.

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

Methuselah, Noah’s grandfather, died just before the Flood, and Lamech, Noah’s father, who prophesied about Noah (Gen 5), died a few years before.
Terah, Abraham’s father, died in Haran en route to the land of Canaan (Gen 11:32).
Moses died before entering the Land (Deut 34:5).
John the Baptist, who pointed to Jesus as the Messiah, died before the Cross and Pentecost. Like Moses, who saw the Land from afar, John the Baptist saw the Kingdom of God but didn’t “enter into it.” Jesus had to increase, but John had to decrease (John 3:30).

12 God delivers judgment on the old heaven and earth

In the Bible, heaven and earth may refer to religious and political leadership (Genesis 1:14-18, Jeremiah 4:23-28).

During an exodus, God often delivers judgment on the old religious and political leaders who have driven the chosen people into sin and slavery. One good example of the symbolic language of judgment is in Jeremiah 4.

Jeremiah 4:23-28

I saw the earth, and, behold, it was waste and void, and the heavens, and they had no light. I saw the mountains, and behold, they trembled, and all the hills moved back and forth. I saw, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the sky had fled. I saw, and behold, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of Yahweh, before his fierce anger. For Yahweh says, “The whole land will be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end. For this the earth will mourn, and the heavens above be black, because I have spoken it. I have planned it, and I have not repented, neither will I turn back from it.”

It is clear that in Moses’ Exodus, God delivered the judgment on Egypt and its idols, but a political and religious change happened within God’s people, as well. We can read about it in the next element (13).

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

The corrupt world and its leaders faced judgment in Noah’s Flood (Gen 7).
The Assyrian and Babylonian exiles show God’s judgment on the corrupt leadership of both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms of Israel.
After the crucifixion of Jesus, God destroyed Israel’s religious infrastructure in 70 AD and scattered the people out of Judea in the Bar KoKhba Revolt in 132-136 AD.
In the Final Judgement, Satan, the antichrist, the false prophet, and all those who have worshipped the beast will be judged.

Adversaries are plagued when the judgment is delivered:

God afflicts Pharaoh and his house with plagues because of the kidnapping of Sarai/Sarah (Gen 12:17).
The 10 Plagues against Egypt (Ex 7-11).
God afflicted Philistines with tumors after capturing the Ark of the Covenant (1 Sam 5).

13 God establishes a new heaven and new earth

God often institutes new leaders when He judges the old religious and political leaders. The new leadership can be new or updated to the old system.

In one aspect, Moses’ Exodus is a birth story of Israel as a nation. The developments in the societal infrastructure go hand in hand with their evolution from a tribal family to a nation.

After Joseph died in Egypt, elders ruled the Hebrews. We see this in Exodus 3 and 4: When God told Moses to talk to Israel, Moses did it through their elders. So, during Egyptian slavery, the rule of the patriarchs changed to the rule of elders.

The leadership changed when God appointed Moses to lead His people and Aaron, Moses’ brother, to be Moses’ spokesperson.

After receiving the Law, Moses’ and Aaron’s leadership roles were solidified. Moses was set as the prophet-king and Aaron as the High Priest. For the first time in history, Israel had a High Priest.

Later, Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, advised Moses to establish a court system in which Moses was the highest authority figure.

Exodus 18:24-26

So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said. Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. They judged the people at all times. They brought the hard cases to Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.

Elders held leadership positions even after setting up the courts (Exodus 19, 24). The seventy elders, mentioned many times in the Pentateuch, were especially important. The group was an example of how the seventy members of the Jewish supreme court, Sanhedrin, were later formed.

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

After the Flood, Noah and his Sons are the world’s new leaders (Gen 6:19).
Joshua took the new generation to the Promised Land after Moses’ death (Joshua).
The 12 apostles replaced the 12 tribes of Israel, and 70 disciples sent in Luke 10:1 replaced the 70 members of Sanhedrin.

14 God creates the world anew

Removing religious and political leaders is sometimes insufficient, but a new creation is needed. God resorted to the new creation option with Noah. However, destroying the old world and a new beginning with only eight people wasn’t enough to correct the problems with sin and death.

In the Sinai, God revealed the pattern for His earthly sanctuary. In seven “Lord said to Moses” speeches (Exodus 25-31), God instructed Israel how to construct the Tabernacle and its furnishings. The seven speeches in the Sinai mimic the seven days of Creation Week.

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

Creation Week in Genesis 1.
Noah’s Flood, destruction of the old (Gen 7), and new creation (Gen 8).
God speaks 10 times (10x “God said”) during Creation Week. The 10 plagues against Egypt took down the old world from the bottom (waters) to the top (sky) (Ex 7-11). God, then, created a new world, which is shown in several places in Moses’ Exodus:
- The blueprints of the Tabernacle (Ex 25-31).
- The 10 Commandments are literally translated as “ten words” (Ex 20).
- Creation Week in the Old Testament festival calendar (Leviticus 23).
In the Day of the Lord, God will destroy the old world and establish the new heavens and new earth where righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:10-13).

15 Sabbath rest, enthronement of God and His chosen person

Sabbath rest is an element established during the Creation Week. On the seventh day, God rested from His creation work, judged His creation, saw that everything was very good, and blessed the Sabbath. God is enthroned on the Sabbath, and He rests from creating. His chosen people are to continue His work in the world.

The Tabernacle Moses built with Israelites is where God dwelled and rested. Specifically, God’s throne is on the Ark of the Covenant between the two cherubim in the Holy of Holies. We see God’s enthronement in Exodus 40 when God’s glory fills the Tabernacle after Moses finishes all the work for the Tabernacle.

Exodus 40:33-34

He raised up the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work.

Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and Yahweh’s glory filled the tabernacle.

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

God rests on the seventh day of the Creation Week (Gen 2).
Noah’s rest: Noah’s name means “rest,” and Noah brings rest (Gen 5:29), vineyard, and wine associated with Sabbath rest (Gen 9).
Israel rested after conquering the Promised Land (Joshua 21:43-45).
God came to dwell in the Temple after Solomon finished building it (2 Chron 7:1)
Jesus took His throne after ascension (Mark 16:19, Rev 5).
Believers rest already in God in this world (Matthew 11:28-30) and will rest in God in the world to come (Rev 14:13).

16 New covenant

In the Bible, a covenant is a solemn agreement or contract between two parties, often established by God.

In biblical terms, a covenant is more than just a legal agreement; it is a sacred bond of relationship and mutual obligation between God and His people. It outlines the terms of that relationship, including promises, blessings, responsibilities, and consequences for disobedience. Covenants demonstrate God’s faithfulness, love, and desire for a close relationship with humanity.

At Sinai, God established a Mosaic Covenant with Israel that brought them detailed Laws on how God’s people behave and worship.

Exodus 19:5-8

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which Yahweh commanded him. All the people answered together, and said, “All that Yahweh has spoken we will do.”

Exodus 24:8

Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Look, this is the blood of the covenant, which Yahweh has made with you concerning all these words.”

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

Adamic covenant (Gen 1-3).
Noahic covenant (Gen 9).
Abrahamic covenant (Gen 12, 13, 17, 22).
Davidic covenant (2 Sam 7).
New Covenant (Luke 22).

Covenants ratified over a meal:

Abraham got a blessing from Melchizedek over bread and wine (Gen 14).
Abraham had a meal with 3 angels (Gen 18).
Moses and elders ate with God at Mt. Sinai (Ex 24).
God’s chosen persons had meals with Gentiles when ratifying their covenants: Isaac with Abimelech (Gen 26:28-30) and Jacob with Laban (31:43-55).
Jesus had a Passover meal with His 12 disciples (Luke 22).
Christians have bread and wine during the Holy Communion.

17 Updated law

God gives His chosen people a new, updated law and commandments they must follow.

The Mosaic Law is presented in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers and reiterated in Deuteronomy to the younger generation that will possess the Promised Land.

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

God gives commandments to Adam (Gen 2).
God updates the law with Noah (Gen 9).
God commands Abraham to circumcise every male (Gen 17).
The Law of Christ is established in the New Covenant.

18 Updated way of worship

Just like with new laws, God also gives His people a new way of worshipping. The law and the way of worshipping are related to the new heaven and new earth and the covenant God establishes with the new leadership.

The Mosaic Law gave a detailed way of worship that concentrated on the Tabernacle, which had sacrificial and festival systems. Aaron was the first High Priest, his family as priests, and the other Levites helped them.

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

People started to call on the name of the Lord before the Flood (Gen 4:26).
Noah built an altar and offered a burnt offering after the Flood (Gen 8).
The patriarchs built altars, dug wells, consecrated pillars, and called on the name of the Lord around trees and wilderness oases (Gen 12, 13, 22, 26, 33).
Temple of Solomon elevated the worship infrastructure from the Tabernacle (2 Chron 7:1).
New Covenant liturgy at churches.

19 Promise of God

God gives His people a promise that usually relates to the Land, Seed, or both but can also include another promise.

In Exodus 19 (verse pasted above in element 16), God promises that if Israel obeys His commandments, it will be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” In Exodus 23, God promises Israel they will inherit the Promised Land.

Exodus 23:30-31

Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and inherit the land. I will set your border from the Red Sea even to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

God’s promise to Noah (2 Samuel 7).
God’s promise to Abraham (Gen 12).
God’s promise to Isaac (Gen 26).
God’s promise to Jacob (Gen 35).
God’s promise to David (2 Samuel 7).
Jesus’ promises to believers (Matt 11:28–30, John 10:10, John 4:14, John 14:2–3, Matt 28:20).
Jesus promised to make all anew (Rev 21:5)

20 Name of God

God’s help and miraculous delivery will prompt people to call God with a name related to their experience.

God revealed His name to Moses at Sinai (Horeb is the same place), appearing him from a burning bush. The name is YHWH, or Yahweh. The name is often depicted as LORD in English translations. World English Bible, which CsV uses, translates YHWH as Yahweh.

Exodus 3:14-15

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God said moreover to Moses, “You shall tell the children of Israel this, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations.

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

God Almighty in patriarchs’ time.
LORD or YHWH or Yahweh in Moses’ time.
Lord of Hosts after the return from the Babylonian exile.
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in the New Covenant.

21 New name for God’s people

Often, during the exodus pattern, when God’s people encounter their Creator, He changes their names.

During the Exodus from Egypt, Israel replaced Hebrews as the prevailing name for God’s people.

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

Abram’s name changed to Abraham, and Sarai changed to Sarah (Gen 17).
Jacob’s name changed to Isreal (Gen 32:28).
Abraham and the 12 tribes as Hebrews (Gen 14:13, Ex 1:19).
Judah is for the Southern Kingdom, and Israel is for the Northern Kingdom.
Jews after the return from the Babylonian exile (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther).
Christians in the church age (Acts 11:26).
Jesus gives a new name to those who overcome (Rev 2:17).

22 Baptism

We see a baptism rite that includes people in the group of God’s chosen people. The baptism is done through a circumcision or a water baptism, or it is shown as a type of these rites.

1 Corinthians 10 acknowledges the crossing of the Red Sea with Moses as a water baptism rite for Israelites.

1 Corinthias 10:1-2

Now I would not have you ignorant, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

Noah and his family were baptised by the flood waters.
Abraham and his family were circumcised.
John the Baptist baptized Jesus.
Christians are baptised in the New Covenant.

23 God’s people minister to others, and others join God’s people

God’s people consisted of different ethnicities, and many Gentiles were included among the Israelites already in the Old Testament. Ministering to Gentiles happens throughout the history of God’s people. Many overlook this fact in the Old Testament.

Exodus 12 tells us that Israel included 600,000 men plus women and children. The number suggests that a couple of million Israelites were departing from Egypt. The term “mixed multitudes” in verse 38 below is used for foreigners, e.g., in Nehemiah 13:3 and Jeremiah 50:37.

Exodus 12:37-38

The children of Israel traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot who were men, in addition to children. A mixed multitude went up also with them, with flocks, herds, and even very much livestock.

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

Noah preached righteousness before the Flood (2 peter 2:5).
Abraham ministered to people and “acquired souls” in Haran. (Gen 12:5)
The king of Tyre helped Solomon build the Temple and blessed the God of Isreal suggesting he is a convert (1 Kings 9, 2 Chronicles 2:11).
Queen of Sheba came to Solomon, was convinced about his wisdom, and blessed the God of Isreal (2 Chron 9).
An eunuch from the court of Ethiopia came to worship to Jerusalem suggesting that Ethiopians were worshipping God of Israel in their own country (Acts 8:27-38).
Jesus tells Christians to take Gospel to the whole world (Matt 28:19, Mark 16:15).

24 God gives His people Land

God delivers His people to the Promised Land where they settle and cultivate the Land.

Israel passed over the Jordan River into the Promised Land in Joshua 4. Joshua, the son of Nun, assistant and successor of Moses, led the Israelites in Canaan and started conquering the Land.

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

God gives Eden to Adam and puts him in the Garden to cultivate it and extend it to the whole world (Gen 2).
Noah got the whole world to himself and plants a vineyard (Gen 9).
God promised Abraham the Land of Canaan (Gen 12).
Christians are to spread the Gospel to the ends of the world (Matt 28:19).
God establishes the new heavens and new earth (2 Peter 3:10-13).

25 Building a house for God

After securing an area from the Land, God guides His people in building a place of worship and performing priestly duties. After each exodus, just like God’s people become more organized as a group, the house of God becomes more organized than the previous one. We move from outdoor altars to the City of God. The spoils from the exile are often used to build the house of God.

The exodus shaped Israel into a nation. They built the Tabernacle (Ex 35-40) according to the blueprints God showed Moses at Mt. Sinai (Ex 25-31) and used the spoils that the Egyptians gave them (Ex 25 and 35).

Once in the Promised Land, Israel sets the Tabernacle in a permanent place in Shiloh where the lots are cast for how the twelve tribes should divide the Land (Joshua 18) and Levitical cities (Joshua 21).

Joshua 18:1

The whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled themselves together at Shiloh, and set up the Tent of Meeting there. The land was subdued before them.

Joshua 18:10

Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before Yahweh. There Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their divisions.

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

Patriarchs built wilderness oases after each exodus (Gen 12, 13, 22, 26, 33).
After Moses’ exodus, Israel became a nation and built the Tabernacle (Ex 35-40).
In the kingdom era, after the exodus of the Ark, Israelites built the Temple (2 Chron 7:1).
After the return from the Babylonian exile, Israel built the second temple (Ezra 6).
After 300 years of persecution, the Christians start building Churches in the Church era.
After the final exodus in the end of this world, we will see the new heavens and new earth and the City of God.

26 Conquering of the Land

Once in the Land, God’s people have to conquer it. In the Old Testament, Israel conquered the Land by delivering God’s judgment on evil occupants by warfare. In the New Covenant, Christians are meant to conquer the world by ministering to unbelievers.

When Joshua leads Israel into the Land, the first place that they will conquer is a city called Jericho. From there, Joshua conquered the Land and, bit by bit, over seven years, managed to secure it for the tribes of Israel.

Joshua 11:23

So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that Yahweh spoke to Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Then the land had rest from war.

Pattern repeated elsewhere in the Bible:

Christians are to spread the Gospel to the whole world. In other words, “conquer” the world by evangelizing. Preaching the Gospel to the nations started at Pentecost (Matt 28:19, Acts 2).

Types of Exodus in the Bible

Noah’s flood – Why did God flood the world?
Abraham from Ur / Babylon
Abraham from Egypt
Abraham from Abimelech
The story of Lot in and from Sodom
Isaac from Philistine
Jacob from his relatives
Joseph from Egyptian captivity
The Exodus / Moses’ Exodus
Joshua 1-6 as reverse exodus
David and the Ark of the Covenant
Judah’s return from Babylonian exile
The Book of Jonah as reverse exodus
Jesus’ resurrection

Exodus Bible study summary

This Exodus Bible study delves into the pattern and elements of the Exodus story, focusing on their significance in holistically understanding the Bible and the story of Christianity.

The study emphasizes how the Exodus narrative repeats throughout the Bible and is foundational to the Old and New Testaments’ overarching narrative. It highlights Exodus as a journey from slavery to rest, mirroring humanity’s journey from the Fall to reconciliation with God.

By examining themes such as creation, sin, redemption, and new creation, the study aims to deepen readers’ understanding of the Bible and readers’ role within Christianity. It traces the Exodus pattern back to Creation Week, emphasizing humanity’s failure to replicate God’s pattern due to sin, leading to the need for redemption.

Our Exodus Bible study concludes by outlining the various elements of the Exodus pattern and their repetition in biblical narratives, ultimately pointing toward the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and His ongoing work of restoration and salvation.