Corroboration of Adams' report is found in the notes preserved by Jefferson and now among his papers in the Library of Congress. It reads: "Pharaoh sitting in an open chariot, a crown on his head and a sword in his hand passing thro' the divided waters of the Red Sea in pursuit of the Israelities; rays from a pillar of fire in the cloud, expressive of the divine presence and command, reaching to Moses who stands on the shore and, extending his hand over the sea, causes it to overwhelm Pharaoh. Motto, Rebellion to Tyrants is Obed..."
Jefferson's notes details Franklin's design of the Children of Israel crossing of the Red Sea: "Moses standing on the shore, and extending his hand over the sea, thereby causing the same to overwhelm Pharaoh, who is sitting in an open chariot, a crown on his head and a sword in his hand, Rays from a Pillar of Fire in the clouds reaching to Moses to express that he acts by Command of the Deity. Motto, Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.
In one of the most remarkable chapters in our history, Jefferson and Franklin, both freethinkers, proposed designs having to do with Israelitish symbols taken from the Bible. Commenting upon the suggestions of this first committee, Professor Charles A. L. Totten wrote: "A general point of interest upon the Great Seal is the unanimity with which they went to the Scriptures as the fountain source of the most glowing symbolism. The early struggles toward liberty of the Hebrew people with tyrannical Egypt -the land of brick without straw - was most naturally suggestive of our own struggle with the mother country, then trying, like the Pharaoh of old, to exact from us a toll of taxation without representation. As the passage of the Red Sea had been smoothed for the "Pilgrim armies and his chariots, the Israelites, as they fled through the sea into the wilderness beyond so, too, the hardened ruler of Old England essayed to pursue across the ocean, and into the farther wilderness beyond, which was to be their 'desolate heritage', this later people - set apart for greater purposes only to encounter equivalent destruction."
