Exodus 12:16, commentary and pictures

Exodus 12:16 belongs to the solemn ordinance of the Passover instituted on the night of the last and most severe plague upon Egypt, a night terrible to the Egyptians and glorious to the people of God. Before that night Moses made known beforehand to Pharaoh and to the people of Egypt and to the Israelites the nature and effect of that last plague. The king and his idolatrous priests opposed the request to let Israel go to the last, while the Egyptian people desired that the Hebrews be permitted to leave. The verse sets apart the first and seventh days of the Passover observance as holy gatherings and forbids ordinary work on those days, allowing only the work needed to prepare what each person must eat.

Its ceremonies included an assembly, a hurried meal of the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, and a solemn retelling of Israel's deliverance from Egypt, and these rites impressed that story on the heart. The law of the Passover expressly enjoined unleavened bread and that no leaven should be found in houses during the feast, a rule that was strictly kept. The observance recalled Israel's deliverance from Egypt and was meant to turn the people from worldly concerns to remember God's works and trust Him.

The Passover lamb and its blood pointed forward to Christ's death and to the provision of salvation for those who believe and act in faith. The command about unleavened bread means that the leaven of sin must be put away by all who would receive life and nourishment from Christ. The verse's instructions about the first and seventh days are connected with Hezekiah's effort to revive the national Passover celebration.