“¹⁴And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.”

– Genesis 50:14 (NKJV)

“And after he had buried his father, Joseph (recognise once more the profound FirstFruit language utilised; apart from the fact that the narrator is acutely aware that it is the story of Joseph being told – a mere Biblical character enjoying much due glory even in this age [Matt 26:13], having also shared in the sufferings of Christ [Rom 8:17] – in a greater sense he is perpetually being heralded as a Christ-type, wholly set apart from his brothers in this way [Gen 49:26]; and in this capacity we recognise in Scriptures such as these that all responsibility and volition in the burial of Jacob for example was ultimately held by, come through and in Joseph’s power [Prov 3:27]: from Jacob’s initial imploring of Joseph to do so [John 12:49] in an intimate setting [Matt 14:23], through the beseeching of Pharaoh, and certainly I believe all logistical and organisational matters pertaining to the actual burial rites, such as embalming and the leading of so great a company of Egyptian mourners as only a true shepherd, a true head of a body, can) returned to Egypt (this being the territory ordained for Joseph to lead in, carefully stewarding this new flock of gentiles, acting also quite profoundly as a harbinger of Paul, “apostle to the gentiles” [Rom 11:13] in this context, in yet another blessed momentary glimpse, a foreshadowing of The New Covenant), he and his brothers (almost as an afterthought; recognise the full circle justice outworked herein: where once young Joseph was wholly at the brothers’ mercy and ultimately led away bound as a slave at their hands, here now we recognise their abject dependency upon him, “as sheep without a shepherd” . . . , “bewildered and helpless” [Matt 9:36] apart from him, wholly at his mercy but led away as free men at his hand) and all who went up with him (his most humble little gentile flock happily serving their good master ☺️; already in the first throes of sanctification, as he leads back those who did not “perish in the wilderness” en-route) to bury his father (to bring honour and pay homage to The Patriarch of The [now become their own!] Faith: what a blessed act of faithfully, loyally loving their lord during his time of distress whilst at the same time also loving themselves in the redeemed sense in which we do so when we invest in our Faith).”