The book of Genesis began with creation and blessing, but it ends in Egypt, with coffins and waiting. This is the end of the book of beginnings. As scripture unfolds from here we will see how God will use this beginning to bring about the promises he makes here at the beginning. That Israel will become a great nation, that they will be given a land, and that all the world will be blessed through them. But before we can get to the middle, we need to finish the start.

Genesis 50:22–26 (ESV)

So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father’s house. Joseph lived 110 years. And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph’s own.

Joseph’s life is long and fruitful. He lives to see his grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. It is really a picture of blessing, of God’s kindness after so much difficulty and after all the trials he went through. Once he was sold as a slave boy, but now he is surrounded by his children and his children’s children. God had restored him and saved him. But we should be careful. Just because this has happened to Joseph, does not mean God will do this like this for us. Joseph had a pivotal role to play in God’s redemption story, and we don’t. But at the same time, no matter how big our part is in God’s story, he will ultimately restore all believers when we are raised on the final day.

And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”

There is something beautiful about these last words. Joseph talks just like Jacob before him did. Even in his last words, Joseph points beyond himself. He doesn’t place his hope in Egypt, or in all the power and wealth he gained in Egypt. He points to God’s covenant promises. “God will visit you. God will bring you up.” Joseph, like Jacob, knows that Egypt is not their final home. He fixes his eyes on God’s faithfulness. This is the same faith that carried Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”

Just like Jacob before him, Joseph makes his family swear to carry his bones back to the promised land. He wants even his remains to testify: God’s promises are true. One day, Israel will leave Egypt. One day, God will bring them home. And Joseph’s bones will go with them. This promise would not happen until 400 years later, when Egypt had forgotten about God. But Israel remembered, and so when Israel finally walked out of Egypt, they carried him out in a coffin. Sometimes we have to wait a long time, maybe even the length of many human lives, before our faith in God’s promises come to fruition.

So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Genesis ends with a coffin. But it is an odd coffin of hope. Because as the book of beginnings comes to an end, the bigger story is unfinished. The coffin in Egypt points forward to Exodus, when God will raise up a deliverer and bring His people out. It also points beyond Exodus, to Jesus who is the greater Joseph. He is the one who died and was placed in a tomb, but who rose to bring His people into the true promised land.

PrayerFather, thank You that even at the close of Genesis, when coffins fill the land, Your promises still stand. Teach us to live and die like Joseph, trusting that You will visit us and bring us home. Thank You that in Jesus, death is not the end but the doorway to resurrection life. Keep us waiting with hope until the day Christ returns. In His name, Amen.

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