We first encounter Serach in Genesis as one of the seventy persons of Jacob’s household who came to Egypt, and significantly, the only female grandchild of Jacob whose name is recorded. Serach is also named as one of the Israelites who came out of Egypt 210 years later. As a young gifted harpist, she was asked to gently sing a message to Jacob telling him that his son Joseph, whom he had mourned for over twenty years, was still alive. In response, he blessed her, saying, "May you live forever!". Thus, Serach was brought into heaven while still alive. Her long life and prodigious memory, Midrash tells us, enabled her to remember the secret words passed down from her grandfather Jacob that would identify the true redeemer from Egypt. When Moses claimed he was the redeemer, and spoke those words, Serach confirmed him as the chosen one. Again, she was the only one who remembered where Joseph was buried, and led the children of Israel to the Nile so they could fulfill their promise to carry Joseph's body with them back to the Promised Land . In the painting, the seated figure is a self portrait. (http://janetshafner.com/new-work/The-assumption-of-serach-bat-asher-1.jpg.php)