God’s full salvation includes the Passover, the exodus, and the crossing of the Red Sea. Through the Passover the children of Israel were saved from God’s judgment. When they were in Egypt they were like the Egyptians; they were sinful and even worshipped idols (Ezek. 20:7, 8). Along with the Egyptians, they were under the righteous judgment of God. According to God’s righteous judgment, they were under the sentence of death. Therefore, the children of Israel needed the Passover lamb to be their substitute. Because the blood of the lamb had been applied to the doorpost of their houses, God in His righteous judgment could pass over them.
However, not only were the children of Israel under God’s judgment; they were also under the tyranny of Pharaoh. Although the Passover was adequate to save them from God’s judgment, it was not effective to rescue them from the usurpation of the Egyptians. In order to be saved from the Egyptian tyranny, the children of Israel needed the exodus and the crossing of the Red Sea.
In Exodus 12 we see that Pharaoh and the Egyptians were subdued by God to such an extent that they actually drove the children of Israel out of Egypt (12:29-33; 11:1). According to God’s command, the children of Israel plundered the Egyptians of their gold, silver, and raiment (12:35-36; 3:21-22; 11:2-3). Not only so, they went forth from Egypt with all their children and their flocks and herds (12:37-38, 31-32). They had dwelt in the strange land of Egypt for four hundred and thirty years (12:40-41). The night of their exodus was a night of observation (12:42). Finally, when they made their exodus from Egypt, the children of Israel had become the armies of Jehovah (12:41, 51).
If the children of Israel had only the exodus but not the crossing of the Red Sea, their salvation would not have been secure. It would have been possible for them to return to Egypt. Without the crossing of the Red Sea, there would have been no separating line. Therefore, in order to have a thorough and absolute deliverance from Egypt, they had to make their exodus and also cross over the separating line by passing through the Red Sea (Exo. 14:21-30).
In 1 Corinthians 10:1 and 2 Paul says that “our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” This indicates that the crossing of the Red Sea was a type of baptism. In Egypt the children of Israel were involved with the evil, corrupt, and condemned world and were under God’s judgment. They needed the Passover, a type of Christ, to save them from God’s judgment. They also needed to be saved from Egypt through water. Therefore, with the children of Israel we see both the blood and the water. The blood of the Passover lamb saved them from God’s judgment, and the water saved them from the tyranny of the Egyptians.
Through water the children of Israel were saved from Egypt and its slavery (Exo. 13:3, 14), that is, from the world and its usurpation. This water also brought them into a realm where there was no bondage or slavery. In this realm they built the tabernacle as God’s dwelling place on earth to fulfill God’s purpose. This indicates that through the baptismal water we are saved from the world to a realm where we can accomplish God’s purpose.