Three "Types" of Baptism
The flood, circumcision, and the exodus
A “type” refers to something in the Old Testament that is fulfilled or elaborated metaphorically in the New Testament.1 The New Testament reveals several fundamental Old Testament passages that point forward to baptism. These types are crucial because they reveal that God has always been working towards baptism into Christ for the forgiveness of sins in the new covenant. Three major movements/events in the Old Testament are described as a type of baptism in the New Testament.
The Flood
The apostle Peter draws a parallel between the flood during Noah’s time and baptism in 1 Peter 3:18-21. The context of this passage is the suffering of Christians, encouraging them to endure with the knowledge that they will be rewarded by God (1 Pet. 3:13-17). Peter then shifts to the suffering of Jesus, noting that although He was sinless, He suffered for the unrighteous to bring them to God. Jesus was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit, through which He preached to the disobedient during Noah’s time (3:18-20a).
The Bible goes on to elaborate how Noah and his family, a total of eight souls, were saved through the waters of the flood as they were carried safely in the ark (3:20). Peter explicitly states that baptism corresponds to this event. Just as the floodwaters separated the saved from the lost, the waters of baptism do the same today (1 Pet. 3:21). Baptism saves us not by physically cleansing our bodies but by providing us with a good conscience before God, enabled by Jesus’ resurrection and ascension (3:21-22).
The cleansing floodwaters of Noah’s day prefigured the waters of baptism that cleanse the sinner (Acts 22:16). Just as the flood brought the ark to safety, baptism brings sinners into the safety of Christ’s church (Acts 2:47).
Circumcision
In Colossians 2:11-14, Paul explains how circumcision was a type of baptism. In the Old Testament, circumcision was a physical sign given to Abraham and his descendants, signifying that they were part of God’s covenant. However, in Christ, Christians experience a “circumcision made without hands,” which is a spiritual circumcision that removes the entire body of the sins of the flesh (Col. 2:11). Unlike circumcision, baptism is not a sign but an entryway to a new spiritual reality.
This spiritual circumcision occurs when one is buried with Christ in baptism (Col. 2:12a). Through baptism, believers are raised with Christ through faith in the powerful working of God (Col. 2:12b). In this way, Christians, who were once dead in their sins, are made alive together with Christ (Col. 2:13-14). Baptism, therefore, serves as the initiation into the new covenant, much like circumcision did under the old covenant.
Just as circumcision was necessary to be a part of God’s people, baptism is essential to becoming part of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). Baptism marks the beginning of a new life, a life characterized by newness, forgiveness, and identification with God.
Israel’s Exodus
In 1 Corinthians 10:1-14, Paul warns Christians about the necessity of remaining steadfast in the faith. He uses the example of Israel, who, despite being in a relationship with God and prefiguring the church, chose to turn away from Him. Paul notes that just like Christians, the Israelites were “baptized into Moses” in the cloud and in the sea. They ate spiritual food, drank spiritual drink, depended on Christ, and yet many of them did not please God (1 Cor. 10:1-5).
Israel’s experience during the Exodus serves as a foreshadowing of the baptism in the new covenant. Their immersion in the Red Sea symbolizes their deliverance from slavery to freedom, a deliverance mirrored in baptism, where believers are freed from the slavery of sin (Rom. 6:1-7). Their deliverance from enemies prefigures our deliverance from spiritual darkness, and their commitment to Moses parallels our commitment to Christ through baptism (Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27).
Paul concludes with a warning in 1 Corinthians 10:12: if Israel, with all their blessings, could fall away, we be careful to remain steadfast in our faith. Being baptized into Christ should inspire us to be vigilant and determined to finish the race we have started.
The Grace of God at Work
When we zoom out and view baptism through the lens of these Old Testament types, we see the incredible grace of God at work through baptism. In baptism, sinners access the means by which they are forgiven of their sins, reborn as children of God, brought into the new covenant, delivered from the slavery of sin, and led out of spiritual darkness to follow Jesus.
Good stuff!