What Is the Purpose of the Book of Exodus?

Obviously the book of Exodus supplies a crucial link in the historical narrative of the nation. Even as the Lord made an unconditional promise to Abram and his descendants (see Gn 15), He informed Abraham that his descendants would be “strangers in a land that is not theirs” and that they would be “enslaved and oppressed” but ultimately they would “return here”—to the land of promise (see Gn 15:1316). Exodus provided the details of the nation’s bondage and deliverance to impress upon the generation that experienced the exodus (and subsequent generations) that the enslavement and the great deliverance they had experienced was in accord with the sovereign and gracious plan and purposes of God.

The book was meant to impress upon the nation the privilege and importance of the presence of God among them.

Furthermore, the book was meant to impress upon the nation the privilege and importance of the presence of God among them. The tabernacle (along with the instructions for the priests in Leviticus) was a tangible reminder of the importance of careful, serious, and solemn worship; one could hardly be flippant about approaching God in a venue like the tabernacle. And of course Exodus contains the first writing of the Decalogue—the Ten Commandments—which was the gracious gift from the Lord to encourage the people to live in such a way that they might enjoy the blessings of His sovereign plan for them and His awesome presence with them.

In the light of the failure of that exodus generation to enter the land of promise, the second generation, that of the conquest (see Joshua), would have read this part of the Pentateuch (Exodus) as both encouragement (the Lord keeps His promises, specifically to live in the land of promise) and warning (the Lord is to be trusted and obeyed for any generation to know and enjoy His promises) (see Dt 28).