In the traditional Exodus story, the Israelites cross the Red Sea after leaving Egypt. Pharaoh first permits them to go, but then changes his mind and sends his chariot forces after them. Trapped between the pursuing army and the water, the Israelites are said to pass through the sea on dry ground after Moses raises his staff; the waters then return and overwhelm the Egyptian forces.
The crossing marks a decisive transition from liberation to wilderness journey. Afterward, the Israelites travel toward Mount Sinai, where the narrative presents the covenant and the giving of the commandments. The sea crossing therefore stands alongside the plagues and the revelation at Sinai as one of the defining episodes of Exodus.
Some modern translations and scholars discuss whether the Hebrew Yam Suph might mean “Sea of Reeds” rather than the Red Sea. Even so, “Red Sea” is the standard English answer in the traditional biblical account and in ordinary trivia usage. The Mediterranean, Dead Sea, and Sea of Galilee are not the sea named in that story.