Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Behold, I send an angel before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.
- KJV Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
- NKJV “Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.
- NASB “Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.
- NLT “See, I am sending an angel before you to protect you on your journey and lead you safely to the place I have prepared for you.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God promised to send an angel ahead of Israel to guard them on the journey and bring them to the promised land. It assures believers that God personally goes before His people.
Overview
This 'angel' (messenger) embodies God's own presence leading Israel through the wilderness to Canaan, the place God had prepared. Many in the historic church have seen here a manifestation of the pre-incarnate Son, given that God's name is 'in him' (v. 21). The promise underscores that Israel's success depends on divine guidance, not their own strength. It anticipates Christ, who goes before His people to prepare a place for them.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Exod 33:14And the LORD answered, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
- Ps 91:11For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
- Exod 32:34Now go, lead the people to the place I described. Behold, My angel shall go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will punish them for their sin.”
- Exod 14:19And the angel of God, who had gone before the camp of Israel, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from before them and stood behind them,
- Exod 33:2And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
- Isa 63:9In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
- John 14:3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am.
- Matt 25:34Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
- Mal 3:1“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- Num 20:16and when we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice, sent an angel, and brought us out of Egypt. Now look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory.
- Josh 5:13Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in His hand. Joshua approached Him and asked, “Are You for us or for our enemies?”
- Josh 6:2And the LORD said to Joshua, “Behold, I have delivered Jericho into your hand, along with its king and its mighty men of valor.
- Exod 15:17You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance—the place, O LORD, You have prepared for Your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, Your hands have established.
- Exod 3:2–6There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from within a bush. Moses saw the bush ablaze with fire, but it was not consumed.
- Gen 48:16the angel who has redeemed me from all harm—may He bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.”
- Gen 15:18On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—
- 1 Cor 10:9–10We should not test Christ, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes.
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 23:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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