Moses' Story Illustrates God's Redemption and Salvation
Moses' narrative in the Pentateuch functions as a sustained demonstration of God's redemptive work, from his rescue as an infant to his role in delivering Israel from bondage. The very etymology of his name—"drawn" from the water [10]—prefigures the salvation theme that defines his mission. When Moses led Israel through the Red Sea, the congregation recognized this deliverance as the practical exaltation of Abraham's seed into God's own nation, with Pharaoh's destruction glorifying Jehovah as sovereign over all earthly powers [12].
Redemption Through Divine Initiative
The Exodus account establishes that redemption originates entirely with God, not human merit. Moses' role as mediator—ascending the mountain [5], sanctifying the people [3], and bearing the radiance of divine encounter [1]—illustrates the pattern by which God bridges the gap between holiness and human need. The redemption price Moses collected from Israel [2] served as a tangible reminder that deliverance requires substitutionary payment, a principle the New Testament explicitly connects to Christ's blood [6]. Biblical redemption encompasses liberation from the law's bondage, sin's power, the grave's hold, and all iniquity [6], themes Moses' ministry anticipates through the plagues [9] and the covenant at Sinai.
The term "salvation" itself, as applied to Israel's deliverance from Egypt [7], establishes the Old Testament foundation for the New Testament's fuller revelation of rescue from sin's guilt and pollution [7]. Jesus' name—meaning "savior, deliverer" [8]—directly echoes this Mosaic pattern. When Jesus referenced Moses' encounter at the burning bush to demonstrate resurrection [4], he affirmed that the God who revealed himself to Moses is the God of the living, whose redemptive purposes transcend death itself.
Typological Significance
Matthew Henry identifies Moses as "the most remarkable type of Christ, as a prophet, saviour, lawgiver, and mediator, in all the Old Testament" [11]. This typology extends beyond surface parallels to structural correspondence: Moses' deliverance of Israel from physical slavery prefigures Christ's deliverance from spiritual bondage. The song Moses and Israel sang after crossing the Red Sea celebrated Jehovah as their strength and salvation [13], language that finds fulfillment in Christ as the strength of spiritual Israel and the author of their deliverance [13]. Moses' mediation between God and people, his radiant face reflecting divine glory, and his role in establishing covenant all anticipate the greater mediator who accomplishes eternal redemption.
Sources
- Exodus “Exodus 34:35 (Geneva1599) — And the children of Israel sawe the face of Moses, howe the skin of Moses face shone bright: therefore Moses put the couering vpon his face, vntill he went to speake with God.”
- Numbers “Numbers 3:49 (Geneva1599) — Thus Moses tooke the redemption of the that were redeemed, being more then the Leuites:”
- Exodus “Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. -- Exodus 19:14”
- Luke “Luke 20:37 (BSB) — Even Moses demonstrates that the dead are raised, in the passage about the burning bush. For he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’”
- Exodus “Moses rose up with Joshua, his servant, and Moses went up onto God’s Mountain. -- Exodus 24:13”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Redemption — Defined -- 1Co 6:20; 7:23. Is of God -- Isa 44:21-23; 43:1; Lu 1:68. Is by Christ -- Mt 20:28; Ga 3:13. Is by the blood of Christ -- Ac 20:28; Heb 9:12; 1Pe 1:19; Re 5:9. Christ sent to effect -- Ga 4:4,5. Christ is made, to us -- 1Co 1:30. Is from The bondage of the law. -- Ga 4:5. The curse of the law. -- Ga 3:13. The power of sin. -- Ro 6:18,22. The power of the grave. -- Ps 49:15. All troubles. -- Ps 25:22. All iniquity. -- Ps 130:8; Tit 2:14. All evil. -- Ge 48:16. The present evil world. -- Ga 1:4. Vain conversation. -- 1Pe 1:18. Enemies. -- Ps 106”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Salvation — This word is used of the deliverance of the Israelites from the Egyptians (Ex. 14:13), and of deliverance generally from evil or danger. In the New Testament it is specially used with reference to the great deliverance from the guilt and the pollution of sin wrought out by Jesus Christ, "the great salvation" (Heb. 2:3). (See [546]REDEMPTION; [547]REGENERATION.)”
- Hitchcock's Bible Names “Hitchcock's Bible Names: Jesus — savior; deliverer”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Miracles Wrought Through Servants of God — Moses and Aaron Rod turned into a serpent. -- Ex 4:3; 7:10. Rod restored. -- Ex 4:4. Hand made leprous. -- Ex 4:6. Hand healed. -- Ex 4:7. Water turned into blood. -- Ex 4:9,30. River turned into blood. -- Ex 7:20. Frogs brought. -- Ex 8:6. Frogs removed. -- Ex 8:13. Lice brought. -- Ex 8:17. Flies brought. -- Ex 8:21-24. Flies removed. -- Ex 8:31. Murrain of beasts. -- Ex 9:3-6. Boils and blains brought. -- Ex 9:10,11. Hail brought. -- Ex 9:23. Hail removed. -- Ex 9:33. Locusts brought. -- Ex 10:13. Locust removed. -- Ex 10”
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Moses — (Heb. Mosheh, "drawn," i.e. from the water; in the Coptic it means "saved from the water"), the legislator of the Jewish people, and in a certain sense the founder of the Jewish religion. The immediate pedigree of Moses is as follows: Levi was the father of: Gershon-- Kohath-- Merari Kohath was the father of: Amram = Jochebed Amram = Jochebed was the father of: Hur = Miriam-- Aaron = Elisheba-- Moses = Zipporah Aaron = Elisheba was the father of: Nadab-- Abihu-- Eleazar-- Ithamar Eleazar was the father of: Phineas Moses = Zipporah was the father of: Gershom-- ”
- Exodus (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Exodus 2 (introduction): This chapter begins the story of Moses, that man of renown, famed for his intimate acquaintance with Heaven and his eminent usefulness on earth, and the most remarkable type of Christ, as a prophet, saviour, lawgiver, and mediator, in all the Old Testament. The Jews have a book among them of the life of Moses, which tells a great many stories concerning him, which we have reason to think are mere fictions; what he has recorded concerning himself is what we may rely upon, for we know that his record is true; and it is what we may be satisfied with, for ”
- Exodus (Lutheran) “Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 15:1: In the song of praise which Moses and the children of Israel sang at the Red Sea, in celebration of the wonderful works of Jehovah, the congregation of Israel commemorated the fact of its deliverance and its exaltation into the nation of God. By their glorious deliverance from the slave-house of Egypt, Jehovah had practically exalted the seed of Abraham into His own nation; and in the destruction of Pharaoh and his host, He had glorified Himself as God of the gods and King of the heathen, whom no power on earth could defy with impunity. As the fact of Israel's ”
- Exodus (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Exodus 15:2: The Lord is my strength and song,..... The strength of Moses and the children of Israel against the fears of the Egyptians, and of entrance into the Red sea; who inspired them with courage, and strengthened their faith, neither to fear being destroyed by the one, or drowned in the other; and so in the glory of his nature, and of his divine perfections, of his justice, holiness, faithfulness, truth, and goodness, he was the subject matter of their song. As Christ is the strength of his spiritual Israel, the author and giver of strength unto them, the strength of their ”