The Passover clearly illustrates salvation through the blood of the Lamb, but there is more to the Christian life than being saved. God was leading His people by His own special methods--a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. This is proof that God always makes His way clear to those who are willing to follow Him.
Israel's experiences in their journey from Egypt to Canaan are pictures of the battles and blessings of the Christian life. God wanted Israel in Canaan, and Canaan is a picture of the victorious Christian life, the life of claiming our inheritance in Christ. Too many Christians, like the Jews of old, are delivered from Egypt, but they get lost in the wilderness of unbelief and never reach the promised victorious life.
Chapters 14 and 15 record times of unbelief in the lives of the children of Israel. They were praising the Lord when things were going well, but began to murmur and complain when even the smallest troubles came.
Most Christians today operate in the same fashion as the Jews of old. Practically all our problems come because we get our eyes off the Lord and on men. The joy and victory of our Christian life ceases when we begin walking in the flesh rather than in the Spirit. It is then that the temptations of Satan look more attractive.
Finally, in today's reading, the manna from heaven is a type of Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life. It also illustrates the written Word of God on which God's pilgrim people feed from day to day.