Why is it significant that the angel appears to Joseph in Egypt, commanding him to “go” to the land of Israel as opposed to returning to it?
The angel tells Joseph to go
rather than to return to Israel (Matthew 2:20), because the journey out of Egypt connects to Israel’s entry into the Promised Land from Egypt, but in perfect obedience.
It is striking that Matthew does not speak about a return
to Israel by Joseph and his family, but records the angel instructing him to go to the land of Israel
in Matthew 2:20. In Matthew 2:21 he also writes that Joseph went to the land of Israel.
Just as in Matthew 2:15 the evangelist laid out the connection with the history of the exodus from Egypt, so in Matthew 2:20–21, he connects Jesus’ journey from Egypt to Israel with the people’s entry into the promised land. The Son finally comes out of Egypt and now enters the land to which God calls him. The successes initially achieved during the entry under Joshua were later nullified; but the entry of Jesus is permanent.1
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,