God has hundreds of "types" or "pictures" in the Old Testament to help us understand His great salvation. It is most important that we understand what these types are. Let us consider some of them.

Egypt is a type of the evil world system, which is under the control of Satan. All unsaved people are in "Egypt"—Satan's world system.

Pharaoh is a type of Satan. Pharaoh was the ruler of Egypt. Satan is the ruler of the evil world system in which we live.

The children of Israel were the people of God. Their history is a type of the Christian life—what we experience as children of God.

The Passover is one of the clearest and simplest pictures or types of salvation by the blood of the Lamb. What was it that secured the salvation of Israel's firstborn sons on that awful night? It was the blood of the passover lamb.

What secures our salvation? It is the blood of Christ, our Passover Lamb. The Bible says, "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." (1 Corinthians 5:7)

What made them sure of their salvation? They were assured of salvation by God's spoken word; He said, "When I see the blood I will pass over you." So it is with us. The Word of God is the basis or ground of our assurance.

The great thought of the Passover was God's taking His people out of Egypt that He might have them for Himself. God's word to Pharaoh was, "Let My people go, that they may serve Me." (Exodus 8:1)

The Feast of the Passover is a memorial feast held each year in which God's ancient people, the Jews, remember their great deliverance from the land of Egypt.

God wants us to remember our great deliverance with a memorial feast also. Our memorial feast is the Lord's Supper (Communion). The early believers celebrated the Lord's Supper weekly on Sunday, the Lord's Day.

As we eat the bread and drink the cup, we are remembering the Lord Jesus and His death for us.

The new life. Israel's deliverance was the beginning of a new life for them. So it is with us. When we are saved we begin a new life—the new life in Christ.

The wilderness is what this world is to the child of God. To us it is "a wilderness." Our home is heaven.

The promised land was the land of Canaan, which God promised to Abraham and to his descendants. The "promised land" for us is not heaven, but the life of victory in Christ, which God wants every Christian to have.

Before the children of Israel set out on their journey, God told Moses that all the firstborn sons belonged to Him and He wanted them set apart for Him. God has redeemed us by the blood of Christ and we belong to Him. He wants us set apart for Himself.

It is estimated that there were about two and a half million people who left Egypt with Moses. There were 600,000 men plus the women and children. The LORD guided them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. God was the Guide and Light of His people. The cloud shaded them from the fierce sun in the daytime and the pillar of fire gave them light at night.

God did not lead them straight toward Canaan, but He led them in a southerly direction down by the Red Sea. They seemed to be going into a "trap." Egypt was behind them, the mountains and the desert were on two sides, and the Red Sea was in front of them. God did this on purpose that He might show His great power to Pharaoh and the Egyptians.

Meanwhile, Pharaoh had a change of mind. He decided that he had made a mistake in letting his slaves go. When he heard that the people of Israel were in a place where they could not easily escape, Pharaoh, his chariots, and his army went after them.

When the Israelites saw the chariots and army of Pharaoh, they were terrified. But Moses said, "Fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD…The LORD shall fight for you…" (Exodus 14:13-14)

God told Moses to stretch out his hand and to divide the sea so that the children of Israel could cross on dry land in the midst of the sea. Moses did as God had instructed him, and the waters of the Red Sea parted. The Bible says,

"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." Exodus 14:22

When the children of Israel were crossing the Red Sea, with a wall of water on each side of them, they were in a place of "death." But they went through "death" to a new land.

When the Egyptians saw this, they thought they could do the same thing. They followed with their army, their chariots, and their horsemen.

When the Egyptian army and their chariots were in the midst of the sea, they had trouble. The chariots got stuck. Then God told Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea. When Moses did this, the waters closed over them and the entire Egyptian army was destroyed.

The Bible says, "There remained not so much as one of them" (Exodus 14:28).

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