The story of the crossing of the Red Sea is a typology. It is a true story, but it also points to something larger than itself.

In ancient times (and even up through more recent times), the sea was seen as the source and hub of evil, chaos, and disorder. God's people stand with the charging Egyptian army on one side and the great chaotic gulf on the other. Here, at the point of their greatest vulnerability, God rescues.

And God's people are forever shaped by this event. The Jewish people were often called to ritual cleansing (a kind of baptism) in order to re-enter the story of the Red Sea. Gentiles wanting to become part of God's people had to undergo "baptism," as a way of participating in a story of which their genetic ancestors did not share.

The communion of the Triune God is a community shaped by rescue. We serve a rescuing God. He parted the sea, but not only that: he parted the great sea of sin and death through Christ's resurrection. And this resurrection points us to the day when all evil and chaos will dealt with once and for all.