The children of Israel had been set free from the bondage of Egypt by the miraculous and mighty events which transpired at the Passover and the crossing of the Red Sea. God had been at work on their behalf and they had seen the salvation of the Lord. God had promised to bring them into a land of “milk and honey,” a promised land. However, they would spend forty years in the wilderness before getting there due to their disobedience. What should have been but an eleven-day journey took a generation to accomplish (Dt. 1:2–3). Nevertheless, God sent His Angel before them to bring them into the land of promise—He is elsewhere called “the Angel of His Presence” (Isa. 63:9).

This Angel is also referred to as “My Angel” in verse 23. God was not referring to Moses, or any ordinary angel, but the Angel of Jehovah, a Christophany, an Old Testament appearance of the Son of God (see Ex. 3:2; Josh. 5:13–15). This Angel would keep them and bring them to the “place which I have prepared.”

These things are but shadows of the substance which we possess as Christians. The Lord Jesus Christ has gone before us, the Forerunner who has entered within the veil. He said, “I go and prepare a place for you” (Jn. 14:3). He promised to return and take us there personally; not to a promised piece of property on earth but to the “many abodes” of heaven. He will keep us in the way and then bring us into the place which He has prepared.

As we contemplate a new year, let us remember that God has sent the Angel of His Presence to be with us all the way, and perhaps this will be the year that He Himself brings us to the place He has prepared!