2 Kings 2:8

Took his mantle. Elijah’s mantle had become the badge of his prophetic office. Rolling up the mantle, he smote the waters of the Jordan as Moses had smitten the river Nile with his rod (Ex. 7:20). The result was a miraculous parting of the Jordan, making a path by which God’s servants passed over on dry land. It is an obvious comparison with the dividing of the waters of the Red Sea at the time of the Exodus (Ex. 14:21), and with the stopping of the Jordan at the time of Joshua (Joshua 3:13-17). The same God who by His power had brought Israel out of Egypt and into the Promised Land, was with them still, ready to reveal Himself and His might and His ever-loving care of His people at the hour of need.