God's plan was Egypt

God's plan was for his people to go to Egypt. This was not a vacation for them. This was not a fun adventure full of hope and blessing. This was a trip they probably would not have wanted to go, had they been able to see the future. If they were able to see the future they would see slavery and bondage. But God called Jacob in his old age, to get up and take his family and all his belongings and go to Egypt in search for food, his son Benjamin, and his long lost son Joseph.

(Genesis 46:3) "And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said,Jacob. And he said, Here am I.
3And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
4I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. "

Jacob obeyed God's plan and took all he had in search for food, his sons, and whatever awaited him next. He probably would have rather that God provide for him in his old comfortable home of Canaan. It seems strange that God would want his people to gather in Egypt. Then we find that many years later during the book of Exodus that God's people are in slavery and bondage under the Egyptians. Potipher is long gone along with the mention of Joseph and the favor he had while in office. However, God knew that in order for the Israelites to take over the promised land they would need to grow in size. Egypt was the perfect place for them to grow into a huge nation able to fight off the other surrounding nations and be victorious in their conquest of the promised land later on in the great Exodus.