John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 63:13

"that led them through the depths, as a horse in the wilderness, so that they stumbled not?" — Isaiah 63:13 (ASV)

Who made them walk through the depths. These things are added to set that benefit in a stronger light.

He likewise brings forward comparisons to describe that extraordinary power of God: “As a horse in the desert, As a beast into a plain;” that is, he led out his people as gently as if one were leading a horse into a plain.

By the word “desert” is not meant the wilderness of Paran in which the people lived for forty years; but, in accordance with the ordinary usage of the Hebrew tongue, it denotes pasture, in which herds and flocks wander freely. This is still more evident from the following verse.