“So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colours that was on him. (Here young Joseph is forcefully stripped from his symbolic garment of righteousness and glory, revealing the ‘nakedness’ that even in times of bitter trial that have now arrived for our young Joseph, cannot separate us from the Love of God in Christ [Romans 8:35]. It is also worth remembering that even though this perishable earthly symbol awarded him by his earthly father has now forcibly been removed from him, it was only ever a mere forerunner of the ultimate glory and righteousness with which his Heavenly Father will clothe him both in this life and in His Heavenly Kingdom as he conforms him into the image of His Son; for he is in fact fast in the process of becoming one of the most important Christ-like figures pointing toward Him in the history of God’s Chosen People.

Nevertheless, in this moment poor young Joseph must be so confused and scared as a time of great testing, a fiery and painful trial intended to purify him from all unrighteousness and turning him into pure gold, has now arrived and even though God has placed His power to overcome inside of him, there is no doubt that what he must now face will be both gruelling and brutal. There is also a sense in which one gets the impression that both Joseph and his father were wholly ignorant of the extent of the malice of the brothers towards him: both Israel and Joseph of course only having their own gentle natures as a point of reference and the brothers of course concealing their wicked thoughts and ideas in the darkness, making it known only amongst themselves. This is why in their naiveté Israel literally sent Joseph into the hands of the enemy and Joseph good-naturedly went, being caught in their evil snare completely unawares.)                        
Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it. (Symbolising the proverbial ‘pit of despair’ void of any signs of Life [Living Water], a baptism unto death as it were that Joseph here also shares with our Lord in this his first initiation into the sufferings of Christ.)
And they sat down to eat a meal. (Only the truly hard of heart can sit and enjoy a meal while a brother is scared, hungry, thirsty and alone right beside them. Notice specifically the stark contrast between Joseph’s current physical hunger and thirst and their physical satiety; yet spiritually Joseph will be continually filled with Good things, even though he walk through the valley of the shadow of death, yet they will hunger and thirst for righteousness but not find it until they are reconciled to Joseph after many years through the Mercy of God manifest through him.) Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, (as I’ve mentioned before this nervous tension between the sons of Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac, continues to exist whereby the sons of Ishmael perpetually bring glory to God in an ‘opposite of the obvious’ way by becoming the tool of suffering in His hand by which he purifies the Children of the Promise, the children of Isaac) coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. (Such irony! The wise men brought the Lord Jesus similar gifts to honour him, yet young Joseph, a Christ-like figure is soon counted as merely one of the possessions as opposed to being blessed by them.) So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” (Even though it is merely self-preservational faith fearing the Lord speaking here, this second eldest brother is displaying at least a modicum of wisdom in his proposal to commit a lesser evil. Joseph is effectively spared at the very last moment by the hand of Reuben and Judah just as their forefather Isaac was spared on the altar at the very last second. Our Lord Jesus of course was not spared, for our sakes, but sold both as a slave and killed.) And his brothers listened. (Let us never forget that God is completely in control and knows exactly what He is doing: “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.” – Proverbs 21:1 (NKJV))
Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. (Just like our beloved Lord Jesus, Joseph was sold for the going rate of a slave for the day: Joseph for 20 shekels of silver, the Lord Jesus for 30 silver coins.)
And they took Joseph to Egypt.” (And so the next chapter of Joseph’s life begins . . . )

“²³So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colours that was on him. ²⁴Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. ²⁶So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened. ²⁸Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit; and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.”

– Genesis 37:23-28 (NKJV)