So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.- Genesis 50:26 ESV
The Bible’s narrative unfolds with profound symbolism, especially when viewed through Neville Goddard’s understanding of consciousness and manifestation. One of the most compelling transitions is the movement from the end of Genesis — where Joseph is laid in a coffin in Egypt — to the beginning of Exodus, which tells the story of liberation from bondage.
Joseph’s Coffin in Egypt: The Fulfilment of Desire
At the close of Genesis, Joseph dies at the age of 110 and is embalmed in Egypt. For Neville Goddard, Joseph represents imagination, the inner creative power responsible for manifesting our desires. His coffin in Egypt symbolises a state where the fulfilled desire rests peacefully within the material world.
This “coffin” is not a symbol of death but of completion and assurance. It marks the moment when a desire has been fully realised and integrated into reality. The tension of wanting dissolves into a quiet knowing that what was imagined is now fact.
Egypt, representing the physical, external realm, is where these manifestations take shape and reside. Joseph’s “burial” here means the creative act has been set firmly in place, ready to influence the unfolding story.
The Symbolism of Joseph’s Age: 110
Joseph’s age at death — 110 — is itself symbolic and significant.
In Hebrew Alphabet, numbers are connected to letters and meanings:
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100 can be seen as a number of spiritual fullness or elevation.
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10 represents completion or divine order on a human scale — the ten fingers, ten commandments, ten utterances of creation.
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110 is therefore completion under fullness — the last movement before a higher order of consciousness breaks through.
In some interpretations of the Hebrew alphabet:
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100 corresponds to the letter “Qof” (ק), often associated with the back of the head — the subconscious, the unseen.
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10 corresponds to the letter “Yod” (י), which symbolises the hand — the creative faculty, the seed of divine power.
Taken together, 110 suggests the divine creative seed (Yod) embedded in the subconscious (Qof) — or, more plainly, imagination planted within the deep, unseen places of the mind.
Thus, Joseph dying at 110 represents a state in which the work of imagination is complete and resting in the subconscious realm, poised for resurrection in a new form — which we see unfold in Exodus.
Exodus: The Awakening from Limitation
What follows is the Book of Exodus, a narrative about the Israelites’ bondage in Egypt and their eventual deliverance through Moses. In Neville’s terms, this signifies a powerful awakening — a shift in consciousness from being trapped in external limitation to realising the inner freedom and power of imagination.
Exodus is the journey out of “Egypt,” the realm of material constraint, into the Promised Land, which symbolises higher awareness and expanded possibility. It represents the next phase after manifestation: not just resting in what has been created, but recognising your divine power to break free from old patterns and claim new states of being.
The Spiritual Cycle: Manifestation to Liberation
Neville’s teaching reveals a spiritual cycle:
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Manifestation (Joseph’s coffin): The fulfilled desire rests in the world, a seed planted and secured.
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Liberation (Exodus): Awakening to the limitless nature of consciousness, stepping beyond the old confines into new awareness.
This cycle invites us to trust both the “coffin” moments — when we rest in the assurance of what we have manifested — and the “Exodus” moments — when we are called forward into our next becoming.
What This Means for Your Journey
If you find yourself in a phase of completion, where things feel settled or dormant, remember Joseph’s coffin is not an end but a foundation. From this resting place, your consciousness prepares for the next awakening.
The symbolism of Joseph’s age tells you this: your imagination has done its work. It now resides deep within your subconscious, like a seed buried in rich soil. And when the time is right, you will rise again — not in the same state, but in a new one, liberated and transformed.