Red Sea

The Red Sea is the site of Israel's most dramatic deliverance from Egyptian bondage, its waters miraculously parting to allow the Israelites through on dry ground before closing again to destroy the pursuing Egyptian army.

Exodus 14:21 records Moses stretching his hand over the sea while God causes it to go back by a strong east wind all night, turning the seabed into dry land, with the waters forming a wall on either side of the Israelites as they crossed.

Pharaoh, having already released the Israelites, changes his mind and pursues them with his army, trapping them, it seems, between his forces and the sea, a moment of apparent hopelessness that immediately precedes one of Scripture's most decisive demonstrations of God's power.

Once the Israelites safely cross, the Egyptian army follows into the seabed, and the waters return, destroying Pharaoh's entire pursuing force, an event Exodus records as leading Israel to "believe the LORD, and his servant Moses."

Moses and the Israelites respond with an extended song of celebration and praise recorded in Exodus 15, one of the oldest pieces of poetry in the Bible, declaring God's triumph and His people's deliverance in vivid, celebratory language.

The Red Sea crossing becomes one of the most frequently referenced events throughout the rest of the Old Testament, cited repeatedly by the psalmists and prophets as the definitive proof of God's power and covenant faithfulness toward Israel.

1 Corinthians 10:1 references the crossing in the New Testament as well, describing Israel as having been "baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea," drawing a theological parallel between this ancient deliverance and Christian baptism.