Before God brought on the last plague upon Egypt, He first gave His people these instructions “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year for you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month each family is to take a lamb for themselves. Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it and when I see the blood I shall pass over it. They must eat the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall completely burn with fire. Now you shall eat it in this way: with your garment belted around your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in a hurry—it is the Lord’s Passover. And you shall keep this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever. When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, as He has promised, you shall keep this rite. And when your children say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ then you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord because He passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians, but spared our homes.”
For I will go through the land of Egypt, and fatally strike all the firstborn , from the human firstborn to animals; and against all the gods of Egypt. Now it came about at midnight that God’s judgment fell on the land. The Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of the king who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle. And the king got up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead. Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, worship the Lord, as you have said. Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also.”
So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls bound up in the clothes on their shoulders. Now the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from children. A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock. And they baked the dough which they had brought, and made unleavened bread. Because they left in haste there was no time to prepare any provisions for themselves. So at the end of 430 years of Israel living in Egypt, on this very day, departed from the land of Egypt. So the people head toward the Red Sea. Then they came to Succoth and camped, at the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from the presence of the people.
When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the king and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, “What is this that we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” So he had horses harnessed to his chariot and took his people with him; and he took six hundred select chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. So the Lord hardened the heart of the king of Egypt, and the king chased after the sons of Israel with all of his horses and chariots, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea. As the king approached, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were coming after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord. Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness!” But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will perform for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again, ever. The Lord will fight for you, while you keep silent.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. As for you, lift up your staff and reach out with your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land. And as for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through the king and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots, and through his horsemen.”
“Then the angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night. Therefore the one did not approach the other all night. Then Moses reached out with his hand over the sea; and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. So the sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right and on their left. Then the Egyptians took up the pursuit, and all the king’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen went in after them into the midst of the sea. But at the morning watch, the Lord looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion. He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty; so the Egyptians each said, “Let me flee from Israel, for the Lord is fighting for them against the Egyptians.”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out with your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen.” So Moses reached out with his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, the king’s entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained. When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses. Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying: I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; the horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him; my father’s God, and I will exalt Him. The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is His name. Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took the tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing. And Miriam answered them, “Sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; the horse and his rider He has hurled into the sea.”
And so Israel was free and they continued on in the wilderness as God led them. God provided for them water and food, and protection from the heat of the sun, and the cold of the nights, and from wild beasts and enemies. God was faithful to His people.