Exodus 12:11, commentary and pictures

On the last night of bondage in Egypt, when judgment was about to fall on the firstborn of Egypt, God directed each Hebrew household to gather inside, mark the blood of the slain lamb on the doorposts, and eat the roasted lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs dressed and equipped for travel, with loins girded, shoes on feet and staff in hand, eating in haste and standing ready to depart. It was ordained as the Lord's passover and as a yearly memorial, so that the deliverance of that night when God passed over Israel's houses and brought them out of slavery would be kept fresh and told from generation to generation when children asked its meaning. The lamb and its blood typified Christ, the sinless Lamb of God whose death is the only propitiation for sin and whose blood shed for the world preserves the believing sinner from wrath and condemnation. That protection came only through faith shown in complete obedience, for the marked house signified acceptance of the promised Redeemer, and without following God's directions the household would not have been distinguished from the Egyptians. The travel-ready posture remains the pattern for readiness now, calling God's people to stand prepared with every sin confessed, shod with the gospel and armed with His promises, using every hour to point perishing souls to the Lamb of God before the final deliverance.

Setting and Manner

The command was given on the last night of bondage in Egypt, at the birth of the Hebrew nation, when there appeared no token of deliverance. Pharaoh had been warned of final judgment on the Egyptians, and the Hebrews had been directed to gather their families within their own dwellings to prepare them for immediate release. It instituted the solemn ordinance of the Passover on the night of the last plague upon Egypt, which was more severe than any before it. That night was terrible to the Egyptians and glorious to the people of God. Moses made known beforehand to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians as well as to the Israelites the nature and effect of that last plague and the ordinance. The king and his idolatrous priests opposed letting Israel go to the last, while the people desired that the Hebrews be permitted to leave.

They were to slay a lamb without blemish, strike its blood on the side posts and upper doorposts as an outward token and sign, and within the house eat the lamb roasted whole. The meal was the roasted lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They were to eat it dressed and equipped for travel, with loins girded, shoes on feet, and staff in hand, eating in haste because God's judgment was about to fall on Egypt and their deliverance was at hand. Their haste and travel-ready posture marked the meal as part of their release from slavery and their journey toward the land of promise, and the meal was the Lord's Passover marking the night God would pass through Egypt.

They ate standing, with staves in hands, ready for the journey and waiting for the signal to depart. That hurried, travel-ready manner harmonized with their condition, for they were about to be thrust out of the land of Egypt to begin a painful and difficult journey through the wilderness. Their readiness matched the haste of the departure, and before morning they were on their way. The supper was shared together around a table with dishes, with staff in hand ready for hasty departure. It happened on the same night the blood was marked on the doorway, the destroying angel passed over, the firstborn of Egypt were slain, and the Egyptians mourned them. At midnight Pharaoh sent Israel out to serve the Lord, and the Hebrews went out an independent nation.

That standing, hasty manner stands in contrast to the later practice in Christ's time. Then Israel were no longer about to be thrust out of a strange country but were dwellers in their own land, and rest had been given them. In harmony with that rest they partook of the Passover supper reclining on couches about the table.

Remembrance and Teaching

The meal is the Lord's passover, marking the night He passed through Egypt to bring judgment and deliverance. It was to be eaten dressed and equipped for immediate departure, with loins girded, shoes on, and staff in hand, and eaten in haste because judgment was about to fall and release was at hand. That travel-ready posture belonged to a people about to be freed from slavery and set out toward the promised land. The food was the roasted lamb without blemish with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, and its keeping recalled the blood sprinkled on the doorposts, the death of Egypt's firstborn, and Israel's preservation from the judgment that smote the Egyptians.

It was ordained as a yearly commemoration of deliverance from Egyptian bondage to keep that wonderful deliverance fresh in mind from generation to generation. When children should ask what the service meant they were to be told it is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over Israel's houses when He smote the Egyptians. That ordinance was given on the last night of bondage at the birth of the Hebrew nation, when no token of deliverance appeared, after Pharaoh had been warned of final judgment and the Hebrews had been directed to gather their families inside their own dwellings and sprinkle the doorposts with the blood of the slain lamb. At midnight all the firstborn of the Egyptians were slain, Pharaoh sent Israel out to serve the Lord, and the Hebrews went out an independent nation to begin a painful and difficult journey through the wilderness, so the hurried manner of eating matched their condition as those about to be thrust out.

The observance was designed to call minds away from world-loving interests and from cares and anxieties about temporal concerns. It was to lead them to review God's works, His miracles, mercies and loving-kindness, so that love and reverence for Him would increase. Thus taught, they would always look to Him and trust Him in trial and not turn to other gods.

This order was kept in the night Passover service at Jerusalem, where men assembled with girded loins, shoes on feet and staff in hand for the hasty meal of lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs. While they ate, in solemn silence the story of the sprinkled blood, the destroying angel and the march out of bondage was rehearsed. All was to stir the imagination, impress the heart, and fix the memory of deliverance in children and youth. Many came a great distance to keep the feast.

Christ the Antitype

The Passover and its religious ceremonies cannot be fully explained apart from Christ, for the meal and even its manner of eating point to Him as revealed in the Old Testament and represent the Saviour. He is the key that unlocks the Old Testament and gives access to its rich treasures, so all services and ceremonies connected with it are valueless if the Saviour they point to is rejected. The ceremony to be eaten was instituted by Christ Himself before His incarnation, and He is the foundation of the whole Jewish economy. The rites He observed at age twelve pointed to His own life and to the work He would accomplish for the covenant heirs descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their meaning became clearer to Him day by day.

The lamb slain in Egypt and its blood on the doorposts, which caused the destroying angel to pass over Israel's homes, typified the greater salvation brought by Christ. He is the sinless Lamb of God, whose merits alone avert judgment and condemnation. He was the Passover's great antitype, and He connected the Lord's Supper with the Passover and identified Himself with its Lamb. The slain lamb is a symbol of the death of the Son of God, to be associated with His future death, giving the observance a mournful interest. The feast and the lamb pointed forward to Christ's approaching death, the only true propitiation for the sins of humanity.

The feast was kept as it had been for centuries until the true Lamb it pointed to was slain by wicked hands and lay in Joseph's tomb while crowds still filled the temple courts and presented morning and evening sacrifices as before. Its full meaning is found in the scenes of Calvary, where prophecy was fulfilled, proving that the crucified one is the world's Redeemer. The lamb to be eaten was a symbol of Christ's body and of the Lamb of God, and its blood pointed to His blood shed for the sins of the world. That blood preserves from the wrath of a sin-hating God, is efficacious for the believing sinner in cleansing him from sin, and shelters the believer from God's wrath coming upon the impenitent and unbelieving world as the wrath of God fell upon the Egyptians.

Eating the lamb's flesh was to recall the Lamb of God and Israel's protection when the firstborn of their enemies were slain. It points to receiving Christ by faith as spiritual food, for He gave His flesh for the life of the world. The same truth symbolized in the paschal service is taught in His words about eating His flesh and drinking His blood. Those who by faith so eat and drink have well-founded hope that He will raise them from the dead at the last day to immortal life in God's kingdom, losing nothing the Father has given Him. In the paschal lamb God meant Israel to behold the Lamb of God and through the symbol to receive Him who gave Himself for the life of the world.

While the Jews were about to celebrate the Passover with great display, Christ Himself, the one the lamb represented, stood in their midst as Saviour presenting mercy, and they refused His offers. They had made the symbol all-important while its significance went unnoticed, and they discerned not the Lord's body. At His trial type met antitype, for His divinity clothed with humanity stood in the midst of the priests, scribes, and rulers. Those leaders were exact about their own maxims and traditions and would not enter the judgment hall lest they should be defiled so they might eat the passover, even as they delivered its Author to death as Satan worked upon their deceived, deluded, hardened hearts.

Protection by Faithful Obedience

God gave special directions to preserve Israel and their families from the plague about to be sent upon Egypt and to prepare them for leaving Egypt. They were to slay a lamb without blemish, strike its blood on the side posts and upper doorpost as an outward token and sign, and inside the house eat the lamb roasted whole with bitter herbs, dressed for travel with loins girded, shoes on feet and staff in hand, eating in haste while the angel of God passed through Egypt slaying the firstborn of man and beast. The blood marked the Israelite homes so the destroying angel would recognize them as dwelling places of Christ's followers and pass over them, and without following the command they would not be distinguished from the Egyptians.

The household's readiness with travel preparations made and eating in haste on the night God brought judgment was an act of faith expressed through complete obedience to God's directions. Those inside were to gather as a family, and the blood-marked doorway was the sign the angel would respect. The firstborn of even a Hebrew household would not be spared if its members disregarded God's instructions.

No one is benefited by this provision for salvation unless he does the work God leaves him to do and by his acts manifests faith in it. The provision saves only those who act on God's instruction, and their actions show faith in the salvation God provides. The lamb's blood on the doorposts represents Christ's blood, which cleanses the believing sinner from sin and shelters the believer from God's wrath coming upon the impenitent and unbelieving world as it fell upon the Egyptians.

The household's obedience, including marking the doorposts with lamb's blood, shows the parents' faith in Christ the promised Redeemer. The lamb's blood prefigured Christ's blood shed for sinners, and the marked house signified the household accepted Christ as Redeemer and was protected from the destroyer. That parental faith covered and shielded the children sheltered indoors.

The marking of houses before the Lord passed through to slay the firstborn protected Israel in that perilous night and foreshadows God marking or sealing His saints, who will be protected when Christ judges and rules the nations. It is connected with the angel's mark on the foreheads of those separated from sin and sinners, followed by the destroying angel. The account is used to warn that a coming judgment will distinguish those who bear the mark from those who do not.

The blood over the doorways shows how God's people are protected when judgment comes, as a sign they belong to God that preserved them from general ruin. It points to the blood of the Lamb of God and illustrates the appointed mark borne by God's people in harmony with His holy law.

The blood-marked doors are applied to the Christian home: believers are to gather their children with them under the sign of faith in Jesus, the only begotten Son who saves believers from perishing and gives everlasting life, and live under that protection. Parents must gather their children about them to save them from the destructive power of the evil one, and all must have faith in the blood of Christ to pass safely through the perilous times just ahead, as the conflict between Christ and Satan will increase in intensity until the end of this earth's history. They are to act on the light God has given and separate their children from influences that lead them away from God, for judgment will reveal the character formed in family life and shown in dealings with neighbors and the world.

Readiness for Final Deliverance

The posture commanded for that night typifies the present time of deliverance and carries deep significance for now, giving the pattern for readiness now. The scenes of that departure from the land of bondage with loins girded, shoes on feet and staff in hand are to be studied to prepare for the call, Behold the Bridegroom cometh.

To eat thus means to stand prepared to meet foes, armed with the promises of God to put enemies to flight. It means to be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace and ready to march at a moment's notice. This urgency rests on the nearness of the great day of the Lord, which hastens greatly.

That readiness leaves no time for self-gratification but calls for using every hour and every day to point perishing souls to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It means being aroused and arousing others, and doing urgently the warning work before it becomes impossible to do. This is needful because the conflict between Christ and Satan will increase in intensity until the end of this earth's history, and all must have faith to pass safely through the perilous times just ahead.

It means preparing to meet the Lord in peace and to meet God, always ready with every sin confessed. It means being ready morning, noon and night to go forth at the cry of the Bridegroom's coming. It means girding up the loins of the mind in sobriety and hope to the end, turning attention wholly to self until there is no disposition to criticize others, and breaking with worldly interests.