They have now been with me three days
We must go three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God.

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One of the things the Israelites, who were slaves in the land of Egypt, spoke about among themselves was the need to travel a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer a special sacrifice, for this was a command God Himself had given them - 16.Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt; 17.and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’ 18.Then they will heed your voice; and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt; and you shall say to him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has met with us; and now, please, let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ - Exodus 3:16-18

It was citing this reason for the sacrifice that Moses and Aaron asked Pharaoh for permission to leave Egypt; however, Pharaoh did not consent, because he realized that this sacrifice signified a great deliverance from slavery for the people—and that, consequently, they would not return to Egypt - 1.Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may [a]hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ” 2.And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.” 3.So they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” - Exodus 5:1-3

Thus, whenever Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go, the Lord afflicted Egypt with plagues and hailstorms; finally, Pharaoh permitted the Israelites to leave Egypt - 40.Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. 41.And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years—on that very same day—it came to pass that all the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. 42.It is a night of solemn observance to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the Lord, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations - Exodus 12:40-42

The people of Israel departed from the land of Egypt on the very day that four hundred and thirty years had been completed since their arrival there; and four hundred and thirty years prior to that—on that very same day—Joseph had been the first to be brought to Egypt.

That day had now become a day of deliverance, a day of the Passover festival, and a day of rejoicing for the people of Israel; yet, it was also the day Jacob wept for his son—the day the death of his beloved son Joseph was announced to him. Thus, that Passover was simultaneously a day of rejoicing and a day of weeping for a son—and that son was Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Whenever the people of Israel met Pharaoh, they did not ask for deliverance from slavery; instead, they requested permission to journey three days into the wilderness to offer a sacrifice. Yet, on that third day, they forgot the very sacrifice they were meant to offer. Struggling without water in that harsh wilderness on the third day, they lost all opportunity to even think about the sacrifice due on that day - 22.So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23.Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. 24.And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25.So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, 26.and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.” - Exodus 15:22-26

Moses and Aaron—who, prior to leaving Egypt, had insisted during every encounter with Pharaoh that they must journey three days into the wilderness to offer a sacrifice—did not speak a single word about that sacrifice after departing Egypt; nor did the subsequent prophets ask why the people of Israel failed to offer the sacrifice intended for the third day, because many remained unaware of the deeper meaning behind the three-day period God had spoken of.

It was in such a context that He—who had once appeared in the burning bush—came to this earth in human form as Jesus Christ and announced in the wilderness of Judea that the three days had passed and the time had arrived for Him to be sacrificed on the cross - 1.In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, 2.“I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. 3.And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar.” - Mark 8:1-3

Not only that, but looking at the Pharisees and Sadducees, He also asked, "Can you not discern the signs of the times?" - 1.Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. 2.He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; 3.and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times - Matthew 16:1-3

For when the Israelites departed from Egypt around 1258 BC, the Spirit of God had secretly revealed that one day of the three-day journey they were to undertake represented 430 years; that is why, exactly 1290 years later—in 33 AD—Jesus Christ was crucified.

For instance, the children of Israel dwelt in Egypt for 430 years; on the very day those 430 years ended—specifically on that day marking the 430-year span—all the hosts of the Lord departed from the land of Egypt. By this, He signified that a "day" could represent 430 years and that Christ’s death on the cross would occur after a total of 1,290 years (3 × 430). That is why, before going to the cross, the Lord asked the Pharisees and Sadducees, "Can you not discern the signs of the times?"

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