Exodus 12:23, commentary and pictures

On that night in Egypt the Lord Himself passed through to strike the Egyptians, yet when He saw the blood on the lintel and side posts He passed over that door and did not allow the destroyer to enter to strike those inside. The blood was the blood of Christ shed on Calvary, and that blood alone saved the firstborn and shelters the believing sinner from the wrath that falls on the impenitent. Escape required faith proved by exact obedience, for the token had to be seen upon the house and all had to remain inside until morning, and mere birth as an Israelite was not enough. The night is a pattern for the last days when the destroying angel will again pass through, and as the blood was the sign then so keeping the holy Sabbath is the mark that distinguishes those who will be spared. As Israel gathered their children into blood-marked houses, God-fearing parents today must keep their children separate from worldly influences under scriptural education within the protection of the covenant through Christ's redeeming blood.

Judgment Night in Egypt

The Lord Himself would pass through Egypt to strike the Egyptians, but when He saw the blood on the lintel and on the two side posts He would pass over that door and would not suffer the destroyer to come into that house to smite those inside. The blood on the lintel and doorposts marked the Hebrew homes for protection, and the households that obeyed and waited inside were spared while the destroyer struck Egypt's firstborn and did not enter those homes.

The direction for preservation from the judgment was given through Moses beforehand: each family, alone or joined with another, was to slay a lamb or kid without blemish and strike its blood on the upper doorpost and the two side posts with hyssop, and none was to go out of the door of his house until morning. Even cattle were to be brought in from the fields, and the children of Israel were to keep inside their houses under the mark. The destroyer came at midnight to smite all the firstborn in Egypt of man and beast and to execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. The avenging angel, the angel of death, visited every house among the Egyptians and struck dead the firstborn of every family, from the heir of Pharaoh to the eldest-born of the captive in the dungeon, and the firstborn of the cattle also were slain.

Those thus sheltered were to eat the roasted flesh that night with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, with loins girded, shoes on feet and staff in hand, eating in haste, for it was the Lord's passover. It was the last and most severe plague, more severe than any before it, brought because the king and his idolatrous priests opposed to the last the request to let Israel go, even though the Egyptian people desired their departure. Moses made known beforehand to Pharaoh, to the people of Egypt, and to the Israelites the nature and effect of this final judgment.

That night was terrible to the Egyptians and glorious to the people of God, the night on which the solemn ordinance of the Passover was instituted and on which Israel marched in glad triumph from long and cruel servitude. It was a signal judgment of God by which the Egyptians were warned until they would consent to release Israel, and it left Pharaoh horror-stricken at the plagues upon his people. God accomplished the deliverance by His mighty power despite Pharaoh's opposition, so that Israel could keep His law, which had been given in Eden and was later proclaimed to them at Sinai. The deliverance was to be kept as a passover ordinance, with parents relating their preservation to inquiring children to preserve remembrance of God's care and lead to grateful worship instead of murmuring over present inconveniences and trials.

By solemn yearly rehearsal the sprinkled blood on the door, the death-dealing angel passing over the marked houses, and the march out of bondage from Egypt were kept alive at the paschal service. Families gathered at night to retell the story in silence while eating the hasty meal of the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, with loins girded, shoes on feet and staff in hand. The retelling bound past deliverance and God's commandments to song, nature, and family association, so the deliverance was fixed in the memory of children and youth to stir the imagination and impress the heart.

Blood Signifies Christ

The blood struck on the lintel and the two side posts was the blood of Christ shed on Calvary's cross, and that blood alone saved Israel's firstborn from the curse. The slain Passover lamb pointed to the death of the Son of God, and the blood on the doorway pointed to His blood. That blood is the only foundation for human hope and the only safeguard against the destroyer.

It was a token and sign set upon the house that its occupants belonged to God, were His denominated people, and were in connection with Him, marking a household His judgment would spare. Houses thus marked were not visited by the destroying angel, but were passed over when judgment went through Egypt to strike its occupants. The blood on the doorway marked faith in Christ, the great antitype of the offerings. It marked faith in the slain Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.

The slain lamb taught the people about Christ's death. Once Christ, the Lamb of God, was slain for the world's sins, lambs no longer needed to be sacrificed to represent His death, and rejecting Christ stripped the Passover observance of its value and significance. That blood cleanses the believing sinner from sin and shelters him from the wrath of God that will come upon the impenitent and unbelieving world, just as the wrath of God fell upon the Egyptians while sheltered Israel was spared.

The protection also points to Christ's greater deliverance from sin: the lamb represents Christ, the only hope of salvation, and His death must be personally trusted and its saving merit applied to the soul, not merely acknowledged as a death for the world. Safety comes by faith that sees invisible things, feels their power, looks to the blood, and lays hold on its efficacy. Holding fast to that faith brings victory after victory, triumphing amid discouragement.

Applied to the heart, marking it with the blood of Jesus means surrendering the whole person to God and relying on Him for deliverance through the virtue of His blood. The faithful servant who does this can know that God will give work to do.

Conditions for Protection

Escape required faith proved by obedient works and exact obedience, for being an Israelite was not enough unless the family obeyed the instruction and the token of blood was seen upon the house. The blood on the doorway marked faith in the great antitype of the offerings, and God would spare only the marked household from the destroyer. The Israelites had to separate themselves and their children from the Egyptians and gather them into their own houses, bringing the children inside, putting the blood on the doorpost, and remaining inside.

The sign mattered even if it seemed unnecessary, because God tested faith by requiring this human part in connection with His interposition. Even though He could distinguish Hebrews from Egyptians, neglecting the blood would have left the house unguarded by heavenly sentinels. When God's judgments come upon the earth His people must therefore obey His instructions rather than follow their own judgment.

Protection required staying inside the blood-marked house until morning, with fathers and mothers gathering their children with them into the house and keeping them there. They were to slay the Passover lamb, strike its blood on the lintel and two side posts with hyssop, bring even the cattle in from the fields, and let none go out of the door until morning. Any Israelite, including any Hebrew child, found in an Egyptian house or habitation that night would fall by the hand of the destroying angel and perish with unconsecrated idolaters. The blood on the door was the sign that its occupants were God's people, and homes where parents were faithful in gathering their little ones within the circle of the home were passed over so that no judgment fell on their children.

He who failed to obey would suffer with the Egyptians and could not be spared. The sign required obedience, and anyone who failed to follow the instruction would not be spared but would share the judgment. The provision saves no one unless he performs the work God leaves him to do and by his own acts manifests faith in the salvation God has provided.

The shelter was not limited to Israelites by birth but was open to believing Egyptians who acknowledged Israel's God as the only true God, renounced their powerless gods, chose Israel's God, pledged henceforth to serve the God of Jacob and to go forth from Egypt with His people. Welcomed into Israelite houses that night, they shared the protection and escaped the stroke when the angel passed.

Foreshadow of Final Judgment

The night in Egypt is a pattern for the last days, when plagues will be poured out on those who show contempt for God's law and the destroying angel will again pass through the land. Then as now God demands exact obedience as the condition of protection, testing faith by requiring a human part in connection with His interposition, even though He could distinguish His own without it. In Egypt that part was to slay the Passover lamb, strike its blood on the lintel and two side posts with hyssop, gather the children inside the house, and remain inside until morning, for the blood was the sign that they were God's people. Without it the house was left unguarded by heavenly sentinels, and any found among the Egyptians would be destroyed with them, for he who failed to obey could not be spared but would suffer with the Egyptians.

As the blood was the sign then, it is answered in the end by a mark placed upon God's people, which is the keeping of the holy Sabbath, and those who receive that mark on their foreheads are distinguished from those whom the destroying angel will slay, both old and young. Those who comply will have His promises fulfilled and be hidden in the secret of the Lord's pavilion when the overflowing scourge passes. But those who follow their own will, make the Sabbath common, or let their children be educated with the world cannot receive the seal of God and will perish with the wicked when judgments visit the earth, with their blood upon disobedient parents, while faithful parents who teach the commandments and commit their children to God by faith and prayer will have them hidden with themselves.

In that passing of the avenging angel Christ determines who is smitten and who is passed over. Those who truly serve God are graven upon the palms of His hands, and He commands that they be not touched, so the destroyer is not suffered to come in upon them. Those who professedly serve God yet witness against Him by being neither cold nor hot receive the message to the Laodicean church, for Christ cannot claim these halfhearted ones as His own but says He will spew them out of His mouth because they are offensive to Him, leaving them without protection when the angel passes. In the future time of God's wrath Jesus will tell the destroying angel to spare those who sought deliverance from temptation and whose sins have been washed away by His blood.

Guarding Children Today

Before the stroke fell on Egypt, fathers and mothers were told to strike the lamb's blood on the lintel and two side posts, to gather their children with them into the house and to remain there until morning, and where parents faithfully gathered their little ones within the circle of the home the destroyer was not suffered to enter and no judgment fell on their children. Protection was only inside those houses, for anyone found in the houses of the Egyptians would not escape, so Christ through Moses told Israel to call their children in and keep them under their own roof under the blood. God-fearing parents today must likewise understand the Lord's will concerning themselves and their children and keep their children under protective, scriptural education, gained line upon line and precept upon precept, rather than sending them into peril in public schools. They must keep them close and teach them the truths of the Word of God line upon line and precept upon precept to prepare them for the future immortal life.

God guarded the associations of children by an object-lesson given at the birth of Israel as a nation to deeply impress all hearts, commanding His people before the death of the firstborn to gather their children into their own homes with blood marked on the doorpost of every house as the token assuring protection, with all to abide within that protection. That blood points to Christ's redeeming blood, and today parents who love and fear God are to keep their children under the bond of the covenant, within the protection of those sacred influences made possible through that blood. This means keeping children separate and distinct from the world, as far as possible away from worldly and evil influences, associations and companionship that weaken their thoughts of God and heaven. Parents must not let them drift into worldly companionship that binds them to the world and holds them away from Christ, but must keep them separated from the society of worldlings and those not connected with God, lest staying outside under Egyptian roofs leave them to perish with unconsecrated idolaters.

They are to teach them that the commandments of God mean much more than is realized, so that those who keep them will not imitate the practices of transgressors of God's law. They must not let them imbibe the same spirit of unbelief that kept the Israelites of old from entering the promised land. As Israel was gathered out from the Egyptians, so before the overflowing scourge comes upon all dwellers on the earth those who serve God must gather their children into their own houses, away from classes voicing Satan's words and disobeying God's commandments, out of the cities, in church schools and home sheltering with the Word of God as the foundation of all education. Any Hebrew child found in an Egyptian habitation was destroyed, for protection required staying inside the blood-marked house until morning, and that blood alone saved the firstborn from the curse. The call is to care for the spiritual life of the home and to shelter the family under the blood of the Lamb of God, since the judgment will reveal the character formed in family life and shown in dealings with neighbors and the world.

If parents neglect their duty their children may be cut down by the destroyer unless they promptly correct their course. God does not cover children's iniquity or save them in the time of trouble while they remain unruly and governed by passion, and unfaithful parents bear responsibility for their loss, with their blood found upon the parents' garments and their own salvation called into question. Faithful parents who teach the commandments and commit their children to God by faith and prayer will have them hidden with themselves in the secret of the Lord's pavilion when the overflowing scourge passes. Disobedient parents who follow their own will and let their children be educated with the world cannot receive the seal of God but will perish with the wicked when judgments visit the earth, with their children's blood upon them.

Living Separate From World

When the plagues fell, Israel was to leave the houses of the Egyptians and gather into their own homes, with children brought inside and the doorposts marked with blood so the destroying angel would spare them and not enter to strike those within. The blood-marked home was thus set apart from the Egyptian household, where even a Hebrew child if found mingled with unconsecrated idolaters would perish with them. That commanded separation made Israel a separate people, and it illustrates the continuing need for God's people to remain distinct from those facing judgment rather than leaving the company of believers for worldly associations.

The event teaches those living in the last days to prepare for coming judgment by separating their families from influences that disregard God's commandments, keeping and training them within the protection of a God-centered home. Before the plagues of the last days are poured out on those who show contempt for God's law, God's people must obey His instruction to move out of the cities and live in small companies by themselves. Those who choose to remain in the cities surrounded by unbelievers will share the disaster that comes upon them, just as he who failed to obey and was found mingled with the Egyptians could not be spared but would suffer with them.

That separation requires placing sanitariums out of the cities, where the sick can have space, grounds, fruits, flowers, air and scenery for recovery. Location matters more than grand buildings, and such separation protects from the coming confusion and judgments on the cities. In the same way God's institutions should be located apart from the cities and their surroundings, following the lesson of Israel staying in their own marked homes instead of the Egyptians' houses.