Genesis 50:26

So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

That is a remarkable way to end the book of Genesis.

The book that opens with creation closes with a coffin. The book that begins with life ends with death. The book that starts with the living God speaking light into the darkness ends with a dead man lying in Egypt.

That is not a small detail. That is the Spirit of God showing us the condition of man.

Genesis begins in beauty, fullness, innocence, and fellowship. It begins with man walking in a world untouched by the curse. But sin enters the story, and once sin enters, death follows. By the time you come to the end of Genesis, there is a coffin. That coffin is the Holy Spirit’s commentary on the ruin sin brought into the human race.

And what makes it even more striking is whose coffin it is.

It is Joseph’s.

Joseph is one of the clearest pictures of Christ in all the Bible. He was hated by his brethren, rejected without cause, humbled deeply, then exalted greatly. He became the one through whom bread was given and life was preserved. And yet Joseph dies. Joseph is put in a coffin. Joseph ends up like every other son of Adam.

That tells us something we need to hear.

No matter how good a man may be, no matter how useful, wise, pure, or faithful he may be, death still reigns. Joseph was a very good man, but he was still a man. And God had already said in Genesis 2:17, “thou shalt surely die.” Satan questioned that word, but the coffin in Egypt proves God was right all along.

Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death…”

That is where Genesis leaves us. A coffin in Egypt.

So then the question rises naturally. Is that it? Is there any way out? Is there any hope beyond the grave? Is there any answer for the ruin brought in by sin?

Yes. Thank God, yes.

Even this coffin is not without hope. Joseph had already said that God would surely visit His people. He had already made them promise to carry up his bones. So although Genesis ends with a coffin, it is not a coffin without promise. It is a coffin waiting on a visitation. It is a coffin looking toward redemption. It is a coffin that says Egypt is not the end.

That is where the story turns.

Exodus will show that God does visit His people. God does bring them out. God does keep His word. Joseph’s coffin may be in Egypt, but it will not stay there forever.

And that points us to something even greater.

Joseph, as beautiful a picture as he is, could not conquer death. Joseph could picture Christ, but Joseph could not replace Christ. The answer is not Joseph. The answer is Jesus. The greater than Joseph came and did what Joseph never could. He entered death, broke its power, walked out of the grave, and opened the way home for every person who trusts in Him.

So yes, Genesis ends with a coffin.

But the whole Bible does not.

The message of Genesis is that sin brings death. The message of the gospel is that Jesus Christ brings life.

We are not staying in a coffin in Egypt forever. We are not trapped in this fallen world with no way out. Because of Jesus Christ, there is hope beyond the grave. Because of Jesus Christ, death is not the final word. Because of Jesus Christ, we are on our way home.