A hinge of the whole story
The Exodus
Centuries after Abraham, his family has become a nation of slaves in Egypt. The exodus is the defining rescue of the Old Testament, the night God redeemed His people by the blood of a lamb and led them through the sea, and it becomes the pattern by which all later redemption is understood.
“And 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, and the waters were divided.”Exodus 14:21
What happened
What happened. Israel groaned under Pharaoh's bondage, "and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob" (Exod 2:24). He raised up Moses and, through ten plagues, broke Egypt's grip. The final night turned on blood: each household was to kill a lamb and strike its blood on the doorposts, "and when I see the blood, I will pass over you" (Exod 12:13). That night the LORD delivered them, and Pharaoh let them go, only to pursue them to the shore of the sea. There God worked His great deliverance: "Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back... and the waters were divided" (Exod 14:21). Israel walked through on dry ground, and when Egypt's army followed, the waters returned and covered them. On the far shore the redeemed people sang, "The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation" (Exod 15:2). A nation of slaves had been carried out by the hand of God.
Why the whole story turns here
Why the whole story turns here. The exodus is the Old Testament's central act of salvation, the event Israel remembers at every feast and the prophets invoke whenever they promise a new deliverance. Here the promise to Abraham becomes a rescued nation, and the shape of redemption is fixed for the rest of the Bible: God's people in bondage, God hearing their cry, a mediator raised up, a lamb slain, blood shielding from judgment, and a people brought out to worship and to be given a covenant and a land. Every later hope borrows this language. When the prophets foretell the return from exile they call it a new exodus (Isa 43:16-19). The Passover becomes the annual re-telling that keeps the memory alive across generations. And the direction is always the same: God does not merely free His people from something, He frees them for Himself, saying "let my people go, that they may serve me" (Exod 8:1). Redemption in Scripture is never bare escape; it is being bought out of slavery into belonging. The whole Bible teaches us to expect salvation in this exodus shape, and it prepares us to recognise the greater Deliverer when He comes.
How it points to Christ
How it points to Christ. The New Testament declares plainly, "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us" (1 Cor 5:7). John the Baptist points to Him as "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29), and John's Gospel notes that not a bone of Him was broken, as with the Passover lamb (John 19:36). At the last supper Jesus takes the Passover cup and makes Himself its meaning, "this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matt 26:28). Where the first exodus freed Israel from Egypt, Christ leads the true exodus, freeing His people from sin and death by His own blood. Moses' Passover sheltered from a night of judgment; Christ's blood shelters forever. The sea Israel crossed becomes, for the church, a picture of baptism and of passing from death to life. He is the greater Moses and the true Lamb.
Questions people ask
Why is the exodus called the pattern of all redemption?
Because its shape recurs throughout Scripture: bondage, a cry heard, a mediator, a lamb, blood that shields from judgment, and a people brought out to belong to God. The prophets describe future salvation as a new exodus, and the New Testament presents Christ's saving work in exactly these terms.
How is the Passover connected to Jesus?
Paul writes, "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us" (1 Cor 5:7), and John calls Him "the Lamb of God" (John 1:29). Jesus died at Passover, unbroken like the lamb, and made His blood the sign of a new covenant. The feast that remembered Egypt was always preparing God's people to recognise Him.