The Tenth Plague Appears as Light
Many in The Prince of Egypt's creative team had the opportunity to study for an extended period of time with Rabbi Stephen M. Robbins of Congregation N'vay Shalom in Beverly Hills, California. Among other things, Rabbi Robbins led them in their exploration of several Kabbalistic concepts, some of which materialized in the final film. Chief among these is the role that light and darkness plays in reference to God.
Based on the numerous comments he received during the time of his involvement with the The Prince of Egypt, Rabbi Robbins came to understand that the film was truly a spiritually transforming experience for many of the hundreds of people who worked so diligently on its creation.
The foundation for the images presented in The Prince of Egypt during the tenth plague is the teaching in Torah that it is God alone who visits the first born of Egypt. (Exodus XI:4, XII:12-13, 23, 29) This is in spite of a medieval concept about the involvement of an "Angel of Death" (sometimes confused with the Meloch Hamoves--or Melech Hamavet), which is mentioned in the well-known song in the Passover Haggadah, Chad Gad Ya.
Rabbi Robbins pointed out that in Kabbalistic teachings, Egypt is considered to be a world of darkness, as the practice of idolatry veils God's light in the world. During the the tenth plague is God's presence as light in the world of darkness. God's presence in the world is an experience outside of time and space which, in a sense, poses a threat to the very existence of the physical world. So, when God's presence is felt on earth, God is surrounded by darkness--which veils that presence.
The darkness is not merely a visual darkness (the lack of light), but a spiritual darkness. As God reveals God's self to the first born, they immediately understand the reality of God as opposed to the lack of substance in the Egyptian gods and the world they thought they knew. They then no longer desire to remain in the world, and leave it of their own accord. Death itself is not dark, but merely a release from life's cares and struggles. And the sigh each of the first born exhales is their letting go of the physical world.
As the light of God ascends into the night sky (following the tenth plague) the constellation of Orion appears over the city. This image emanates from the understanding that the ancient Egyptians saw a connection between the Belt of Orion and the God Amun, which also correlated to various ancient Egyptian monuments.
And these were understood by the ancient Egyptians as the presence of the god Amun brought into the world. The constellation's appearance immediately after God's visitation upon the first born, is a subtle reminder that this celestial grouping is not a manifestation or suggestion of the gods, but is merely a group of individual stars--each made by the one true God.