ספר שמות

‎Sh’mot Rabbah 19,6 comments on Isaiah ‎‎52,12 ‎כי בחפזון יצאת ממצרים‎, “for you left Egypt in haste,” ‎i.e. during the night, contrasts this with the promise of ‎the prophet that the redemption in the future will not ‎be in haste or at night, like thieves feeling during the ‎night. On the face of it, this Midrash appears ‎to directly contradict the statement of the Torah that ‎the Israelites did not depart during the night but ‎בעצם ‏היום הזה‎: “in the middle of this day, i.e. in full daylight.” ‎‎(Exodus 12,17) The Midrash, however was not ‎concerned with the physical darkness or daylight, but ‎with the mental state of the Jewish people, who, at the ‎time of the Exodus from Egypt, were as if in spiritual ‎darkness. (Compare to the scenario painted by the ‎prophet Isaiah of how spiritually enlightened the ‎Jewish people in the future would be when the ‎redemption would come).‎We also read in the Yalkut Reuveni on this ‎portion, [who subscribes to the optimistic view ‎that the redemption in the future will be due to our ‎having accumulated the necessary merits. ‎Ed.] that there will not be an opportunity for ‎the protective angel of the people oppressing us to ‎accuse us of worshipping idols, as did the protective ‎angel of the Egyptians at the time of that Exodus. This ‎is why the above quoted verse from Isaiah concludes ‎with the words: ‎ומאסיפכם אלוקי ישראל‎, “and the Lord your ‎G’d, will gather you in.”‎