If water baptism is not an element of salvation, why did Jesus command it?

Jesus commands that His faithful be baptized as this is integral with the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) and the Great Commission is the teaching and preaching to the World concerning the power of the Gospel to save through faith in Messiah Jesus; therefore, water baptism is an outward demonstration to a lost and perishing World of the regeneration possible by faith in Jesus as Messiah; water baptism is a picture, an outward demonstration, of the death, burial and resurrection of Messiah…a concise yet powerful public demonstration of the Gospel message; for this reason, entering baptismal waters should be one of the first acts of obedience for anyone who has received the Holy Spirit as Guarantor of New Covenant relationship with Elohim subsequent professing faith in Jesus as Messiah (Ephesians 1:13-14).