What basic gospel premise was pictured by Israel needing three days separating them from Egypt?
The three days separating Israel from Egypt pictured the basic gospel premise that Christ died, was in the grave three days and three nights, and rose from the dead. That same three-day separation in the tomb, received by faith, separates believers from the old life of sin and bondage.
Les explains that in Exodus, God was already giving a picture of basic premises: there is no setting us free from the shackles of sin any more than there was reason to expect Israel to be set free of Egypt unless they could have three days separating them from their place of captivity. He connects this to Matthew 12, where the scribes and Pharisees sought a sign and Jesus cited Jonah: as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so the Son of Man would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Les teaches that the same applies to salvation: if we ignore the basic premise of the gospel—that Christ died, was in the grave three days and three nights, and rose from the dead—we have no gospel. But when we put our faith in that gospel, that three days and three nights in the tomb separates us from the old life of sin and bondage.