Symbolism of the raft

There is a lot of symbolism that Mark Twain wove into The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. One of which was the raft that Jim and Huck found. I think that the raft was a symbol of new beginnings and a second chance for Huck and Jim. They had both had a rough life, what with Jim being a slave and Huck growing up as more or less an orphan, but with a drunk father. The raft was an outlet from their old life to something potentially better. It was hope for them, they did not necessarily know that it would be better, but in comparison to their past life it certainly could not be much worse.