Exodus 12:6, commentary and pictures

The verse directs keeping the set-apart, unblemished lamb until the fourteenth day of the month, when the whole assembled congregation of Israel is to kill it in the evening. Its blood was to be struck on the doorposts and lintel as an outward token so the destroying angel passing at midnight to smite the firstborn of man and beast would pass over and spare those houses. Inside, the families were to eat the lamb roasted whole with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, gathered together with loins girded, shoes on feet and staff in hand, in haste and readiness for immediate departure from bondage. The kept and slain lamb was a symbol of Christ's body and death, prefiguring the sinless Lamb of God whose shed blood alone cleanses the believing sinner, averts judgment and gives deliverance from the bondage of sin as the Passover gave deliverance from Egypt. Receiving that provision required faith shown in exact obedience by gathering all inside under the sign of blood, for neglect left a household unprotected, while obedient parental faith shielded the children with them, and type met antitype when the Lamb was slain at Calvary, ending the Passover's meaning as a type with the Lord's Supper instituted as its memorial.

Passover Night in Egypt

The lamb was to be set apart and kept unblemished until the fourteenth day of the month, when the whole assembled congregation of Israel was to kill it in the evening. That evening killing belonged to the first Passover supper on the night God freed Israel from slavery in Egypt. The blood from that slaughter was then used to mark the houses so the destroying judgment would pass over them.

That night was the night of the last plague upon Egypt, which was more dreadful and severe than any before it and followed the plagues of locusts and darkness. It was terrible to the Egyptians and glorious to the people of God. It marked the birth of the Hebrew nation on the last night of bondage, when no token of deliverance yet appeared.

Moses declared beforehand to Pharaoh, to the people of Egypt, and to the Israelites the nature and effect of that last plague. At that time the king and his idolatrous priests still opposed letting Israel go to the last. The Egyptian people themselves desired that the Hebrews be permitted to leave.

Through Moses God gave special directions to preserve the Israelites and their families from the plague about to be sent and to prepare them for leaving Egypt. They were to slay a lamb without blemish and strike its blood upon the doorposts and upon the upper doorposts of their houses as an outward token and sign. When the angel of God passed through to slay the firstborn of man and beast, He would pass over the marked houses and spare them.

Inside their dwellings the families were to stay gathered together and eat the lamb roasted whole with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They were to eat with loins girded, shoes on feet and staff in hand, in haste and readiness for immediate release from slavery. The supper was thus eaten in preparation for departure.

At midnight God smote all the firstborn of the Egyptians in final judgment, as had been warned to Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh ordered Israel to rise up and go serve the Lord. They went out from Egypt as an independent nation, prepared for leaving.

The Passover was instituted as a solemn ordinance commanded to be kept yearly, with parents telling children it is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover who passed over the houses of Israel when He smote the Egyptians, so the wonderful deliverance would be repeated from generation to generation. Its design was to call minds from world-loving interests and from cares and anxieties about temporal concerns to review God's miracles, mercies and loving-kindness, so love and reverence for Him would increase and lead to ever looking to Him and trusting Him in all trials. Later it was kept as a night assembly at Jerusalem with the whole congregation eating the lamb in haste, with girded loins, shoes on feet and staff in hand, together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs in solemn silence. That service rehearsed the sprinkled blood, the death-dealing angel, and the grand march from bondage, taught to Hebrew children as they journeyed and witnessed the ceremony, to stir the imagination, impress the heart, and fix the deliverance forever in the memory of child and youth.

Lamb Foreshadowing Christ

The lamb kept until the fourteenth day and then killed in the evening and eaten at the feast was a symbol of Christ's body and death, prefiguring the sinless Lamb of God and the slaying of the Son of God. The setting apart of the lamb before its killing was fulfilled when Jesus, while the people were assembling at Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, voluntarily and publicly set Himself apart as an oblation and presented Himself as the Redeemer. That demonstration directed all eyes to the sacrifice that was to crown His mission to a fallen world, so that all would follow His rapid progress to the cross and the final scene.

The blood struck on the doorway represented Christ's blood shed for the sins of the world. It alone cleanses the believing sinner from sin and shelters him from the wrath of a sin-hating God coming upon the impenitent and unbelieving world, as the wrath of God fell upon the Egyptians, and His merits alone avert judgment and condemnation for fallen humanity. His approaching death is the only true propitiation for the sins of humanity, giving deliverance from the bondage of sin as the Passover gave deliverance from Egypt, and pointing forward to the Lamb slain on the hill of the cross. Those who celebrated were to associate the slaying of the lamb with the future death of the Son of God.

Eating the lamb recalled that protection under the blood during the death of Egypt's firstborn. It teaches the same truth that life comes only through His death as the means of salvation, by eating His flesh and drinking His blood. Faith in Christ, described as eating His flesh and drinking His blood, gives believers hope of resurrection to immortal life.

The Passover was a ceremony revealing Christ that cannot be fully explained apart from Him, since its keeping and killing of the lamb points to the mission, suffering and death of the Messiah revealed in the Old Testament. Christ is the key that unlocks the Old Testament and gives access to its rich treasures. To make the symbol all-important while its significance went unnoticed is to fail to discern the Lord's body, and to reject the Saviour it represented while He stood among the people as Saviour offering mercy leaves all the religious services and ceremonies connected with it valueless.

The Passover was instituted by Christ Himself before His incarnation, and He is the foundation of the whole Jewish economy. Its rites were bound up with His own life and mission, which began to dawn on Him when He observed the paschal service as a twelve-year-old at Jerusalem for the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the covenant promises.

Type met antitype when His divinity clothed with humanity stood in the midst of the priests, scribes and rulers at His trial, while they kept exact ceremonial strictness about defilement so they might eat the Passover yet delivered Him to death. The antitypical Lamb, slain by wicked hands, fulfilled the feast's meaning at Calvary. When Christ died the Passover's significance as a type ended, and the Lord's Supper was instituted as the memorial of the same saving event connected with the Passover.

It was necessary for His church in all succeeding ages to make His death for the sins of the world a subject of deep thought and study, with every fact connected with it verified beyond doubt. After His crucifixion many recalling these events in connection with His trial and death would search the prophecies, be convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, and multiply converts to the faith in all lands.

Faith Under the Blood

Salvation on that night was not automatic but had to be received by faith shown in exact obedience to the special directions given through Moses to preserve families. Each household was required to do what God commanded, gathering everyone inside the dwelling under the sign of blood on the lintel and doorposts and observing the appointed preparations. Those acts manifested faith in the salvation provided and brought the obedient under the protection of the angel passing over. That judgment also displayed God's power to Pharaoh and proved that the Lord alone is God.

Neither carelessness nor refusal to obey nor neglect of the directions could protect a household. Those who failed to follow the instruction were not spared from the judgment striking the firstborn of Egypt. Even a Hebrew household neglecting the command was left no different from the Egyptians.

Marking the house with the lamb's blood was acceptance of Christ as the promised Redeemer, and gathering the children inside in obedience showed faith in Jesus the great Sacrifice. That faith shielded the whole household from the destroyer's power, so the destroying angel passed over every marked house in the judgment on the firstborn. The faith of believing parents, shown by obeying God's directions, covered themselves and their children gathered with them. It stands as a symbol that parental faith extends to little children who have had no test of character themselves and covers them from the destroying angel.

This protection warns that a destroying angel will soon slay those without the mark. Parents must therefore faithfully guide and discipline their children and plead with God for them. All are ever to look to God and trust Him in trials and not turn to other gods, calling to mind His miracles, mercies, and loving-kindness. None is benefited by this special provision of God for salvation unless by his acts he manifests faith in the provision made and performs the work the Lord leaves him to do.