Exodus 12:22, commentary and pictures

On the night of the last plague on Egypt, Israel was directed through Moses to slay an unblemished lamb, strike its blood on the lintel and side posts with hyssop, and remain inside until morning with the family gathered in. When the destroying angel came at midnight to slay the firstborn, he passed over every blood-marked dwelling and spared all sheltered under the token. The blood signified the future death of Christ for the sins of the world, whose merits cleanse the believing sinner and shelter him from coming wrath. It was not enough for the lamb to be slain; the blood had to be applied by individual faith and exact obedience, for mere descent from Israel without the sign left one exposed to judgment. Faithful parents who kept their children inside the blood-marked home suffered no loss that night, teaching godly parents in the last days to keep their children separate from the world under sacred influences and to receive the mark of loyalty in Sabbath-keeping before the final plagues fall.

Passover Night in Egypt

The direction came through Moses to Israel before the judgment on Egypt, for their preservation from it. Each family, alone or joined with others, was to slay a lamb or kid without blemish and with a bunch of hyssop strike its blood on the lintel and the two side posts, and none was to go out of the door of the house until morning. The blood was to be a token upon the houses where they were, and when seen God would pass over them so the plague to smite Egypt would not destroy them. Being Israelite did not replace obedience, for anyone who failed to obey and was not under the sign would suffer with the Egyptians and could not be spared.

The father and priest of each household sprinkled the blood and then joined his family inside the dwelling to remain there until morning. There they ate the lamb in haste and silence, praying and watching and waiting in awe with dread for the stroke to fall that night. They waited through the night in faith in the promised deliverance as they prepared to leave.

Israel was to separate from the Egyptians and gather inside their own houses, bringing in the children and even bringing cattle in from the fields. Any Israelite found in an Egyptian house would fall by the hand of the destroying angel. Egyptians who acknowledged Israel's God as the only true God were welcomed into Israelite houses that night and shared the protection.

When the blood-marked sign was seen, the destroying angel coming at midnight to slay the firstborn of man and beast would pass over and would not enter or smite that dwelling. The blood struck on the lintel and side posts was the sign of a Saviour's protection, and where that sign was on the door the death-dealing angel visited not and the destroyer entered not. Not one Hebrew with the token was slain.

It was the night of the last and most severe plague upon Egypt, a night terrible to the Egyptians and glorious to God's people. The nature and effect of that last plague were made known beforehand by Moses to Pharaoh and to the people of Egypt as well as to the Israelites. The king and his idolatrous priests opposed letting Israel go to the last, while the people desired that the Hebrews be permitted to leave.

The blood-marked doorway, the command to remain inside until morning, the night assembly with girded loins, shoes on feet and staff in hand, the hasty meal of the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, and the deliverance from bondage were part of the solemn Passover service. That service was to impress the deliverance forever in memory, rehearsed in solemn silence and taught to children and youth, so that parents would relate that preservation when their children asked what the service meant. That deliverance brought the people toward Sinai, where God proclaimed the law they were to keep.

Blood and Hyssop Meanings

The blood struck on the lintel and side posts symbolized the blood of Christ, which alone saved the Hebrew firstborn from destruction and from the curse. The slaying of the lamb pointed to the future death of the Son of God for the sins of the world, and the lamb and its blood taught the people about Christ's death. That blood is efficacious for the believing sinner to cleanse from sin and to shelter from the wrath of God that will come upon the impenitent and unbelieving world, as His wrath fell upon the Egyptians. This shelter is the protection of sacred influences made possible through Christ's redeeming blood.

The blood was the token and sign that those inside were God's people and connected with God. When the Lord passed through to smite Egypt He would not suffer the destroyer to enter a blood-marked house, so the sprinkled blood on the lintel and two side posts spared Israel from the death-dealing angel on the night of deliverance from bondage. It belonged with the night assembly, the hasty meal, and the grand march from the land of bondage, to fix the deliverance forever in memory.

It was not enough for the paschal lamb to be slain; its blood had to be sprinkled upon the doorposts. The lamb represents the Lamb of God, in whom is the only hope of salvation, and the sprinkling means the merits of Christ's blood must be applied to the soul. Each person must believe not only that Christ died for the world but that He died individually for him, appropriating to himself the virtue of the atoning sacrifice. The blood-marked door showed faith in Jesus Christ as the great antitype of the offerings and the Lamb who takes away the world's sin, and the family's safety depended on making sure the mark was in place before the destroying angel came. Marking the heart with the blood of Jesus means surrendering wholly to God and trusting in Christ's saving virtue.

The hyssop used to sprinkle the blood was the symbol of purification. Once Christ, the Lamb of God, was sacrificed for the sins of the world, animal sacrifices no longer had purpose as symbols of His death. After Christ's death, keeping the feast as a Jewish ritual was a worthless form because those who rejected Him rejected what gave the feast its meaning. The Passover points forward to the greater deliverance Christ accomplishes in freeing His people from the bondage of sin.

Faith Proved by Obedience

God required a work on Israel's part to prove faith by works in the deliverance He was bringing about, and the token of blood had to be seen upon their houses to escape the judgment coming on Egypt. No one is benefited by His special provision for salvation unless he does the work left him to do and manifests by his own acts his faith in the provision made for his salvation. That work included separating themselves and their children from the Egyptians and gathering inside their own houses and staying there until morning.

Being an Israelite did not replace obedience, for safety depended on making sure the mark was in place before the destroying angel came. Anyone who failed to obey, was not under the sign, or was found in an Egyptian house would fall by the hand of the destroying angel and suffer with the Egyptians and could not be spared. Even Hebrew children found in Egyptian homes among unconsecrated idolaters would perish, while the blood on the door alone saved the firstborn of the Hebrews from the curse.

God demands exact obedience as the test of loyalty honoring His law above men, testing faith by giving a part to act in connection with His interposition. Neglecting the blood on the plea that God could distinguish Hebrews from Egyptians, or that His angels would recognize them without it, would not have left heavenly sentinels guarding the dwelling. His promises will be fulfilled to those who comply with the conditions, while all who depart from His instructions to follow their own will and judgment will perish with the wicked when judgments visit the earth.

Parents Guarding Children Today

Faithful parents who gathered their little ones with them into the house and remained there until the destroying angel passed over had no judgment fall upon their children when God smote all the firstborn in Egypt at midnight. The blood-marked home was spared when the Lord passed through in judgment, with the lintel and two side posts struck with hyssop dipped in the blood of the lamb in the basin, and the household kept inside under that token was not entered or smitten. That gathering illustrates the importance of keeping children under the protection and influence of their family, within the circle and fortress of the home.

The command is a lesson for God-fearing parents today in this time of peril to understand the will of the Lord concerning themselves and their children. They are to keep their children separate and distinct from the world, not imitating the practices of transgressors of God's law, but respecting God's Word, obeying it, and teaching the commandments diligently to their children. Even cattle were brought in from the fields that night, and a later mark on the forehead likewise identifies those separated from sin and sinners while the destroying angel brings judgment on the unmarked, young and old alike.

Parents must keep their children inside godly companionship and the protection of sacred influences made possible through Christ's redeeming blood, separated from worldly society, unconsecrated idolaters, and classes voicing Satan's words and disobeying God's commandments. Safety depended on staying inside under the blood until morning, for children found in Egyptian homes among unconsecrated idolaters would perish with them. Letting them drift into worldly society exposes them to destruction, rather than keeping them among people connected with God.

The truth builds a protecting barrier and fortress around God's people that must not be broken down. It is unsafe to permit children to associate with unbelievers as freely as with Christians, because whether youth who received wise instruction and training from godly parents continue to be sanctified through the truth depends largely upon the influences they meet after leaving their homes among those to whom they look for instruction, and their characters will be to a large extent in accordance with the teachings given them.

Parents are to guard the associations of their children in civil, religious, and social life, preserving them from harmful companionship and making them familiar from earliest years with the precepts and principles of the law of God. Given at the birth of the nation as an object-lesson to impress every heart, the command to call children in and keep them under their own roof means parents who love and fear God are to keep their children in the same way under the bond of the covenant. They are to give them an education based on a scriptural foundation, line upon line and precept upon precept, keeping them under scriptural influence rather than sending them to public schools.

Staying inside their own house protected them from the plagues, and anyone found in the houses of the Egyptians would not escape. Parents must therefore keep their children close to them and away from worldly and evil influences, under the best influences where they hear the truth and are schooled in the truths of the Word as preparation for the higher school above and for future immortal life. Otherwise the children may imbibe the spirit of unbelief that was revealed among the Israelites of old and kept God from bringing them into the promised land, for the home is the setting where character is formed and will be revealed in the judgment amid deception and false teaching.

Separation Before Coming Judgments

Exodus 12:22 instructs the last days, for as Israel marked homes with the blood of the Passover sacrifice and remained inside until morning, so God's people now are to prepare for coming judgment and keep their families apart from those who disregard God's commandments and teach evil. The blood on the doorway was Christ's blood, which alone saved the Hebrew firstborn from the curse, and any Hebrew found in an Egyptian house was destroyed. The command not to go out means those who are Israelites indeed must now gather their children into their own houses before the overflowing scourge comes on all dwellers on earth, gathering them away from classes voicing Satan's words and disobeying God's commandments. This requires getting out of the cities as soon as possible, establishing church schools, and giving children the Word of God as the foundation of all their education.

The same law applies when the plagues of the last days are poured out on despisers of God's law. Protection at the Passover required putting the lamb's blood on the lintel and side posts with hyssop and staying inside until morning, for the blood-marked house was the sign that they were God's people and the Lord would not suffer the destroyer to enter it, while anyone who failed to obey could not be spared but would suffer with the Egyptians. If found mingled with the Egyptians they would be destroyed with them, so God's people must obey instruction to move out of the cities and live in small companies by themselves, and those who choose to remain surrounded by unbelievers must share the disaster coming upon them. The verse thus illustrates the need for God's people to be a separate people, remaining inside their own houses during the plague, marked off from the Egyptians' houses.

This separation requires that His institutions, especially sanitariums for recovering health of body and saving souls, be located out of the cities where they can have space and grounds and every advantage of nature in air and scenery. They are not to be huddled in grand city buildings that will share the confusion, shaking, and judgments coming upon every city according to the wickedness of the people and the light of truth they have had.

As Israel had to bring children in, strike the doorpost with blood, and let none go out of the house until morning because all found among the Egyptians would be destroyed with them, so when the destroying angel again passes through the land the mark placed upon God's people is the keeping of His holy Sabbath. The blood mark was a required sign of protection that could not be dismissed on the plea that God could distinguish Hebrews from Egyptians or that heavenly sentinels and angels would guard the dwelling without it, for God demands exact obedience as the test of loyalty honoring His law above men and tests faith by giving a part to act in connection with His interposition. His promises will be fulfilled to those who comply with the conditions, while all who depart from His instructions to follow their own will and judgment will perish with the wicked when judgments visit the earth.

Parents must therefore faithfully teach children God's commandments, bring them into subjection to parental authority, and commit them to God by faith and prayer rather than letting them receive an education with the world and making the Sabbath a common day. If they let children treat it as an ordinary day the seal of God cannot be placed upon them and they will be destroyed with the world, while those faithful with their children may be hidden in the secret of the Lord's pavilion when the overflowing scourge passes through the land. The command to remain in the house kept them under that protection and illustrates the duty of parents to separate their children from sin and harmful influences, and a later mark on the forehead likewise identifies those separated from sin and sinners while the destroying angel brings judgment on the unmarked, young and old alike.