A Command to Flee

And having been warned in a dream not to

go back to Herod, they returned to their

country by another route.

Matthew 2:12

It appears that God's angel messengers were not quite finished with their assignments for the wondrous event of God's Son come to earth.  After the Magi find Joseph and Mary and have the opportunity to see and worship the baby Messiah, they take their rest before venturing back to their homeland.  In a dream, they are warned not to return to Herod, for his overture of peace toward the newborn king was just smoke and mirrors.  When they headed for home the next day, they took a circuitous route that did not lead through Jerusalem.

The angel then appeared to Joseph in his second nightly visitation, this time with a heavenly command:

Get up, take the child and his mother and

escape to Egypt.  Stay there until I tell you, for

Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.

As the Magi slowly wended their way home, Mary and Joseph escaped under the cover of darkness and made their way to Egypt.  They would live there for an unspecified amount of time until Herod was dead and the danger was over. The wonderful gifts of the Magi would provide for their travel and needs in that strange new home.