The new Exodus . . . is another metaphor for new creation. The plagues on Egypt which begin the process of the Exodus are designed to indicate a de-creation and situation of chaos from which Israel can emerge through the division of water and earth as a new humanity on the other side of the Red Sea. Just as Israel was a corporate Adam . . . so their inheritance of the promised land was to be none other than what God had promised to Adam if he had obeyed: full possession of the Garden of Eden, and by extension the ends of the earth. This is why the land promised to Israel is also referred to as the Garden of Eden (Isa 51:3; Ezek 36:35; Joel 2:3; cf. Isa 65: 21-23 LXX). --G. K. Beale, 'The Eschatological Conception of New Testament Theology,' in The Reader Must Understand: Eschatology in Bible and Theology (IVP 1997)
Wow, great quote. It's interesting to me that in Exod 15.16, Moses refers to this people whom you have qnh - qof nun heh - which can mean "gain/acquire" or "create." Either is appropriate - God has just gained/redeemed his people, and also created them, out of the midst of water, just like in Gen 1.
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