Moses – The Deliverer Who Pointed to a Greater Exodus
Drawn from water as an infant, he would lead millions through water to freedom. Raised in Pharaoh’s palace, he would confront Pharaoh’s power with nothing but a shepherd’s staff and the word of God. Moses stands as the towering figure of the Old Testament—lawgiver, prophet, mediator, deliverer. Yet for all his greatness, Moses himself pointed beyond his own ministry to another prophet, another deliverer, another mediator who would accomplish what Moses could only begin. “Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant… but Christ as a son over his own house.”
From Palace to Wilderness
Moses’ life divides into three forty-year periods. The first forty years he spent as Egyptian royalty. Born during Pharaoh’s massacre of Hebrew infants, hidden in a basket among the reeds, discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses received education in all the wisdom of Egypt. “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God” (Hebrews 11:24-25). He identified with his people.
His attempt to deliver Israel through personal intervention failed. Killing an Egyptian taskmaster, Moses was exposed, rejected by his own people, and forced to flee. The next forty years he spent in Midian, tending sheep, a fugitive from both his Hebrew identity and his Egyptian status. The prince became a shepherd; the privileged became a refugee.
At the burning bush, everything changed. God revealed Himself as the I AM, commissioned Moses to confront Pharaoh, and promised to bring Israel out of Egypt to a land flowing with milk and honey. The third forty years would see Moses lead the exodus, mediate the covenant, receive the law, construct the tabernacle, and guide Israel to the border of Canaan—only to die without entering.
His story is one of preparation through failure, calling through grace, ministry through weakness. The man who protested “I am not eloquent” would speak with God face to face. The leader who said “send someone else” would become Israel’s greatest prophet. God used not Moses’ strengths but his surrendered weaknesses.
Mediator of the Old Covenant
Moses’ primary function was mediation—standing between God and Israel. At Sinai, the people trembled at God’s presence and begged Moses to speak to them instead. “Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die” (Exodus 20:19). Moses entered the cloud on the mountain; the people remained below. He received the law; he transmitted it to Israel.
The covenant Moses mediated was conditional and bilateral. God promised blessing for obedience, cursing for disobedience. Israel agreed: “All that the LORD hath spoken we will do.” The covenant was sealed with blood—sprinkled on the altar and on the people. But this covenant depended on Israel’s faithfulness, and Israel proved faithless. The covenant mediated by Moses could not ultimately save.
Moses also mediated forgiveness when Israel sinned. After the golden calf incident, he pleaded with God: “Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin–; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book” (Exodus 32:32). He offered himself as substitute—willing to be cut off if only Israel could be spared. The offer was rejected; Christ alone could be the effectual substitute. But Moses’ willingness previewed what another Mediator would accomplish.
Throughout the wilderness wandering, Moses interceded repeatedly. When Israel complained, Moses prayed. When rebellion broke out, Moses fell on his face. When plague threatened destruction, Moses turned away God’s wrath. He stood in the breach, though he could only delay judgment, not remove it. The mediator under law could not provide what the Mediator of the new covenant would secure.
Prophet of the Coming Christ
Moses prophesied concerning his own replacement: “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken” (Deuteronomy 18:15). A prophet like Moses—another mediator, another lawgiver, another deliverer—would arise. This was not merely prediction of the prophetic office generally but anticipation of One uniquely like Moses.
Stephen quoted this prophecy in identifying Jesus as its fulfillment: “This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me” (Acts 7:37). The same speech recounts how Israel “refused” Moses, receiving him only after rejection—the pattern repeated with Christ. The deliverer rejected becomes the deliverer received.
The parallels between Moses and Christ are extensive. Both were preserved as infants from murderous rulers. Both spent time in Egypt. Both experienced rejection by their own people before ultimate acceptance. Both fasted forty days. Both were mediators—Moses of the old covenant, Christ of the new. Both offered themselves for their people. Both brought their people through water to salvation.
Yet Christ exceeds Moses at every point. Moses was faithful as a servant; Christ as a Son. Moses mediated a covenant that could not save; Christ mediated an eternal covenant. Moses received the law; Christ fulfilled it. Moses died on the mountain overlooking Canaan; Christ died on a mountain outside Jerusalem and rose to enter glory. Moses led Israel to the border; Christ leads His people all the way home.
The Greater Exodus
At the Transfiguration, Moses appeared with Elijah speaking with Jesus about “his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31). The word “decease” is literally “exodus.” Moses, the exodus-leader, discussed with Jesus His coming “exodus”—the death and resurrection that would deliver God’s people from a bondage far worse than Egypt’s.
The Passover lamb that protected Israel from death pointed to Christ, “our passover sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7). The Red Sea crossing that delivered from Pharaoh’s army pictured baptism into Christ (1 Corinthians 10:2). The manna that sustained Israel in the wilderness foreshadowed Christ, the true bread from heaven. The rock that gave water was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4). The entire exodus narrative was the gospel in advance.
What Moses began, Christ completed. Moses delivered from Egypt; Christ delivers from sin. Moses brought to Sinai; Christ brings to Zion. Moses gave law that condemned; Christ gives grace that saves. Moses died unable to enter the land; Christ lives to lead His people into glory. The first exodus was national and temporary; the second exodus is universal and eternal.
Hebrews elaborates this contrast: “For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:13-14). Moses’ rituals cleansed externally; Christ’s sacrifice cleanses internally.
Following the Greater Moses
Moses’ example of faith, humility, and perseverance still instructs. He chose reproach with God’s people over Egypt’s pleasures, “esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt” (Hebrews 11:26). Even in his day, Moses saw connection to Christ and considered sharing His reproach worthwhile. If Moses valued Christ’s reproach, how much more should we?
Yet Moses himself would not want us to stop with him. He pointed to another prophet. He anticipated a better covenant. He knew his ministry was preparatory, not ultimate. To stop at Moses is to miss what Moses aimed at. The law he gave was “our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ” (Galatians 3:24). Having come to Christ, we are no longer under the schoolmaster.
Are you trusting Moses or trusting Christ? Religious effort, moral achievement, law-keeping—these are the way of Moses, and that way cannot save. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. The exodus Christ accomplished—redemption from sin through His blood—is offered freely. You cannot work your way out of bondage; you must be delivered by Another.
Moses saw the promised land from Pisgah but did not enter. He died outside the inheritance. But Christ has entered heaven itself, opening the way for all who trust Him. Follow the greater Moses into the true promised land. Trust the Mediator of the better covenant. Receive the exodus accomplished at Jerusalem—and live.