When Israel stood at the edge of the Red Sea and saw the water raging before them, their first instinct was to flee into the desert. But God had sealed that escape route too.
The Mekhilta reads (Exodus 14:3) — "The desert has closed upon them" — and explains that "closed" refers to wild beasts. God sent dangerous animals to block the desert paths, making retreat impossible.
The proof comes from a linguistic parallel. The word "sagar" (closed) appears here, and the same word appears in (Daniel 6:23): "My God sent His messenger and closed the lions' mouth, and they did not wound me." In Daniel's story, "sagar" clearly refers to controlling wild animals. The Mekhilta applies the same meaning to the Exodus: God "closed" the desert by filling it with beasts that would not let Israel pass.
The picture that emerges is terrifying. Israel was surrounded on every side. The sea raged in front of them. The Egyptian army thundered behind them. And now the desert itself — their last possible escape — was sealed shut with wild creatures.
But this total encirclement was not cruelty. It was the setup for the greatest miracle in Israel's history. God eliminated every human option so that when the sea split, there would be no doubt about who saved them. The only way forward was through the impossible — and God made the impossible happen.