This book begins with a nation being virtually born within a nation. From a beginning of only 70 people, Israel developed into a nation of between two and three million. It is this nation that God has chosen to be an object lesson for all mankind, not because they are the best of people, but because they are simply a sample of all humanity. Gentiles should see in Israel precisely what they are like themselves.
Life is the prominent theme in Genesis, though it ends in the contrary condition of "a coffin in Egypt." Therefore, because sin and death have invaded creation, the subject of Exodus becomes most necessary, the subject of redemption. This redemption involves the very meaning of the word, Exodus -- a "going out" from the condition of a corrupted creation, which is symbolized in the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt. It was necessary first that they should be redeemed to God by the blood of the Passover lamb, typical of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus (ch.2), and then redeemed from the power of the enemy by the superior power of God in opening the Red Sea (ch.14) and bringing them safely through to a place that speaks of resurrection.
The latter part of Exodus, however (ch.19 to 40), deals with the giving of the law and the complete tabernacle service. These things emphasize the authority of God over a redeemed people and His provision of grace to meet the needs that arise through all their wilderness journey. Neither the law nor the tabernacle ritual are intended for the church of God in our present dispensation of grace, but they are typical of God's authority established over His people today and of His gracious provision for our preservation, protection and guidance through all our history on earth. Thus they will teach us spiritual lessons of a most profitable kind when interpreted rightly.