What does Hebrews 11:27 mean?

This verse represents a transition with respect to Moses, one easily missed when the verse is taken out of its immediate context. Earlier, the book of Hebrews defined godly faith as a trusting, forward-looking reliance on God, in spite of our own ignorance, producing obedience (Hebrews 11:1–3). Moses' story was held up as one such example of that kind of faith. Specifically, Moses chose to identify with his birth people, the persecuted nation of Israel, instead of his adoptive people, the rich but wicked Egyptians (Hebrews 11:24–26). That willingness to value God's promises more than earthly wealth is credited to Moses as the kind of forward-looking faith God requires (Hebrews 11:10–16).

Here, the text mentions Moses "leaving" Egypt. This could be taken one of two ways—the first being a reference to Moses' initial departure from Egypt, fleeing after killing an abusive slaver who was beating a fellow Israeli (Exodus 2:11–15). That, however, is not what this verse references. Instead, the "leaving" mentioned here is that of the Exodus itself. Moses' role in leading Israel out of slavery in Egypt required him to face the wrath of the Pharaoh. Instead of shrinking from this duty, Moses obeyed God (Exodus 5:1; 12:40–41). Future verses will help to clarify that the writer of Hebrews is now speaking of this event in particular.

Prior passages mentioned that God makes visible things out of invisible things—He works in ways we cannot always see, now, but will see, later on. Moses "endured" the struggles and doubts involved in challenging the king of Egypt because he placed trusting faith in God.