Red Sea, Passage of

The passage through the Red Sea (Reed Sea) was the pivotal event of the Exodus in which God opened a way through the waters for Israel to cross on dry ground and then caused the waters to return upon Pharaoh's pursuing army, drowning the Egyptian forces (Exodus 14). Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind all night, and Israel passed through on dry ground with walls of water on their right and left. When Pharaoh's chariots followed, the LORD looked down from the pillar of fire and threw the Egyptian army into confusion; Moses stretched out his hand and the waters returned.

The event generated two of the oldest and most celebrated poems in the Old Testament: the Song of Moses (Exodus 15:1–18) and Miriam's brief antiphonal chorus (Exodus 15:20–21). Psalm 77:16–20, Psalm 78:13, and Isaiah 51:10 commemorate it as defining evidence of divine power. Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:1–4 interprets the passage as a baptism into Moses, a typological anticipation of Christian baptism.