Why did God send Joseph to Egypt ahead of his brothers?
God sent Joseph to Egypt ahead of his brothers to preserve them, to preserve a posterity in the earth, and to save their lives by great deliverance. This was God's sovereign providence, preparing everything ahead of time to ensure their survival and to bring about His plan.
Les explains that God in His providence had prepared everything. When Joseph's brethren hated and rejected him, and he ended up in Egypt, it pictures how the Lord Jesus Himself had to go through rejections to bring about the whole plan of salvation, to die for us and extend salvation by grace. God sent Joseph before his brothers to preserve them a posterity in the earth and to save their lives by great deliverance. Les emphasizes that God is sovereign in everything He does. This move to Egypt was also part of God's plan, as Pharaoh gave permission for the family to come into the best part of Egypt, Goshen, even though God had previously told Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob not to leave the land of promise.
And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.