Signing the Declaration of Independence, 1776
Jefferson's proposed Great Seal design, 1776
Moses & the First Seal
By 1776 before the Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia, "comparisons with Exodus filled the air," notes Feiler. On July 4, immediately after the Declaration of Independence was officially passed, the Continental Congress asked John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin to design a seal that would clearly represent a symbol for the new United States.
They chose the symbol of Moses leading the Israelites to freedom. (Feiler, 35) Historian Derek H. Davis describes Jefferson's own design idea as being a depiction of "the Children of Israel in the wilderness, led by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night." (Meacham, 81)
Leading up to independence there was a multitude of politicians and leading clergymen who described the colonists as equivalent to the Israelites fleeing Egypt. Thomas Paine, in his well-known book Common Sense, also cited Gideon, Samuel, and David, to support his argument against monarchies, and referred to King George III as a "Pharaoh of England." (Feiler, 60)
Comparisons with Exodus filled the air. The Founders were in dialogue with Moses as they drafted the nation's founding documents.
Bruce Feiler — America's Prophet (2009)