In Exodus 13:19, as the Israelites are departing Egypt, this curious detail is recorded: “Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, ‘God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.’” In what must have been a hasty departure, why would Moses take time to rescue the remains of a body, four centuries dead? If bodies were unimportant, then the bones of Joseph could have remained in Egypt. Yet while the soul of Joseph had been sundered from his body, nevertheless the bones Moses transported were still Joseph’s bones. The body of the first Hebrew slave in Egypt is rescued from the land of bondage, foreshadowing the…