Jesus received the sign of the covenant that he fulfilled, in place of which baptism was instituted. Today we believe that we are joined to God’s people and his firstborn Son Jesus Christ through faith in God’s promises, which are clearly expressed in the sign and seal of baptism. As we read about Zipporah touching someone’s feet with the skin of the foreskin, as a sign of her acceptance that she is a part of the people of God through the blood of sacrifice, the Lord calls us to receive his grace and new life, rather than the death we deserve for our sins, by submitting to his will.
Although in form, Zipporah and her children were free from slavery, she understood that it was necessary to put herself under the sword of the Lord, so that she might pass through death together with God’s firstborn son on their way into the Promised Land. This pointed forward to God’s Son, who also first passed through death under the punishment of God against our sins, so that he could be raised to life. Today we are called to the same faith that Zipporah had, by receiving the work of Christ in sincere faith, so that we might share in Christ’s blood and death and be raised with him to new life (Colossians 2:6–20). Our desire to accept the new bloodless covenant sign of the covenant, as believers and our children, reveals our submission to the Lord and our faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. The Lord prepares his church for a life of thanksgiving and worship
18 Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”