difference between comparisons using type(of: ) and isMember(of: )

I am trying to look for instance of specific class in array of different classes (looking for index of specific ViewController in TabBarViewController)

I have a code that checks type using type(of: ) but it doesn't work:

func getTabIndex(_ rootClass: AnyClass) -> Int? {

    if let tabVC = UIApplication.shared.delegate?.window?!.rootViewController as? UITabBarController {
        for (index, vc) in tabVC.viewControllers!.enumerated() {
            if type(of: vc) == rootClass {
                return index
            }
        }
    }

    return nil
}

if type(of: vc) == rootClass always returns false.

When I change if type(of: vc) == rootClass to vc.isMember(of: rootClass) it works fine.

I assume isMember(of: ) is obj-c method while type(of: ) is pure swift, but I don't see why it would make difference on UIViewController.

Could somebody explain why type(of: ) doesn't work in this case? In both cases, I am comparing exact types, not the subclasses. TabBar has instances of FooViewController and BarViewController. When I call getTabIndex(FooViewController.self) I get nil when using type(of: ) and 0 when using isMember(of: )

EDIT: I am aware that tpye(of: ) checks for exact type while kind(of: ) checks for subclasses as well, but in my case, I was checking exact type, so type(of: ) should be working fine, hence the confusion.

When I printed result of type(of: ) it was exactly same as when I printed value of rootClass. I know this only means that their textual representation is same and underlying types might be different, but I don't understand why that would be case

EDIT2:

Original question used isKind(of:) method which was misleading, I changed it to isMember(of: ) to reflect more closely source of my confusion, that is why type(of: ) doesn't work when comparing exact types