Borne on Eagles' Wings From Egypt to Sinai

"You yourselves have seen" (Exodus 19:4): not from the mouth of witnesses, not from a written record, and not from received tradition do I tell you, but "what I did to Egypt." Although the Egyptians were idolaters, committers of forbidden unions, and shedders of blood, I did not exact punishment from them except on your account and for your sake. "And I bore you on eagles' wings." Rabbi Eliezer says: this refers to the day of Mount Sinai. "And brought you to Myself" (Exodus 19:4): this refers to the eternal House [the Temple]. Another interpretation of "on eagles' wings": they let the ear hear what it is able to hear. Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Yose the Galilean says: behold, Scripture states (Deuteronomy 32:11), "As an eagle stirs up its nest." It is the way of the eagle to come down upon its young while flying, with its wings, so that they will not be terrified. So too, when the Omnipresent revealed Himself to give the Torah to Israel, He did not reveal Himself to them from one direction but from four directions, as it is said (Deuteronomy 33:2), "The LORD came from Sinai and shone forth from Seir to them; He appeared from Mount Paran." And which is the fourth direction? (Habakkuk 3:3), "God comes from Teman." Another interpretation of "on eagles' wings": it is the way of a bird to set its young between its legs, because it is afraid of one stronger than itself [flying above]. But the eagle, which is not afraid of any creature stronger than itself, sets them upon its shoulders; for were it to set them between its legs, it would [still] fear the slingstones and the arrows that people shoot at it. Therefore it made itself a barrier between its young and the people. So the Omnipresent made the ministering angels a barrier between Israel and the Egyptians, as it is said (Exodus 14:19), "And the angel of God moved." Just as the eagle spreads its wings and draws them in from moment to moment, so Israel would go twelve mil and return twelve mil at each and every commandment [uttered at Sinai]. And so it says (Ezekiel 16:13), "And you grew exceedingly beautiful and rose to royalty." Just as the eagle ascends from below to above in a brief moment, so Israel ascended from below to above in a brief moment. And just as their ascent was not in the way of the world, so too their descent was not in the way of the world. And so it says (Hosea 7:11), "When they go, I will spread My net over them; I will bring them down like the birds of the sky; I will chastise them according to the report to their assembly."