It might seem strange to see Moses, over a thousand years before Christ, dealing with the “reproach of Christ.” But this is what Hebrews 11:26 says: “He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.” I agree with the Hermeneia commentary that suggests, “Moses might be depicted as accepting the reproach that comes with being the forerunner of God’s anointed servant.”[1] We’ve seen in earlier comments regarding his parents that they seemed to have recognized some divine purpose in Moses even at his birth. He too was aware of a divine calling himself. Moses was in his own right an “anointed one” for the fulfillment of God’s promises regarding the future deliverance of God’s people. Continuing with this idea the commentary says, “Moses could have been understood to be aware of the ultimate perfecter of the faith, the one who would bring God’s promises to reality. Sustained by that awareness, he accepted the reproach that accompanied his association with Christ and Christ’s people.”[2] The next verse in Hebrews; 11:27, says that Moses saw “him who is invisible.” It reads, “By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.”

In Hebrews 13:8, the author of Hebrews says that Christ doesn’t change. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Moses seems to have understood to some extent that God’s presence with them during the whole Exodus experience was the Christ. Paul assumes this is true and writes in 1 Corinthians 10:4, “For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.” Moses’ faith looked forward to an ultimate redemption that would transcend anything this world had to offer. The pleasures, prestige and possessions of Pharaoh’s house were not enough to draw Moses away from his vision of a future redemption to an eternal home not made with human hands. It was this future hope that sustained Moses throughout the wilderness experience and it seems the writer of Hebrews wants that future hope to sustain his readers as well.

Verse 26 ends by telling us that Moses was “looking ahead” to a future reward. His vision looked beyond the physical promised land to a land and a home established by the ultimate redeemer who was with Moses and His people in the wilderness. Moses did not receive the promise of entering into the “promised” land of Canaan.  Yet on the mount of Transfiguration where Jesus’ glory was revealed to Peter, James and John, we see Moses appearing in that land beside Elijah. But, he knew that wasn’t the ultimate promise. Although he did not see the land in his lifetime, he did ultimately see the land and enter into it with Jesus! In the next chapter of Hebrews, the writer will tells us to keep “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.” Moses did that and his dreams came true. Just as Moses’ future hope was fulfilled after his death, the writer of Hebrews wants his readers to realize our future hope will be realized, not in this lifetime, but in the one to come!

[1] Harold W. Attridge and Helmut Koester, The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, Hermeneia—a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1989), 341.

[2] Harold W. Attridge and Helmut Koester, The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, Hermeneia—a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1989), 341.