Genesis 32:18
Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob’s; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us. Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob’s; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us.
Genesis 32:18 belongs to Jacob's preparations to meet Esau after twenty years away, when his return brought back the memory of his deception of Isaac that had led to his exile together with the memory of divine favor and promises of help and guidance. He was returning to Canaan at divine command after long exile with his wives and children and flocks and herds to his native country, amid fear that Esau might use violence to protect the inheritance he believed was his. Alarmed by news that Esau was approaching with a band of warriors bent on revenge, while his own company was unarmed and defenseless and faced violence and slaughter under crushing self-reproach, Jacob looked to divine mercy and prayer as his only hope and defense yet left nothing undone on his own part.
The verse gives the wording Jacob instructed his messengers to use, that the animals as a present belonged to Jacob, were sent to Esau, that Esau should be addressed as master and Jacob as servant, and that Jacob himself was coming behind them. The humble and deferential language was meant to seek Esau's favor and to reassure him that Jacob was not returning destitute to claim their father's inheritance. The respectful address was also meant to avoid stirring bitterness over the prophecy that the elder brother would serve the younger. Sending the present ahead with that message was an effort to make amends for the wrong of taking the blessing meant for Esau and to avert the danger Jacob had brought on himself.
In the meeting of Jacob with Esau, Jacob represents believers and Esau represents unbelievers, and the trouble of Jacob prefigures the fear and distress believers will face in the final conflict with the image beast. The chapter of Jacob's preparations belongs to the time of Jacob's trouble, a crisis of anguish that ends in deliverance for God's people. Jacob's effort to make amends illustrates the duty of God's people approaching the time of trouble to make every exertion to place themselves in a proper light before the people, to disarm prejudice, and to avert the danger threatening liberty of conscience.