The Passover Lamb of Jesus in the Book of Exodus

The Passover is an important Jewish festival. According to the Book of Exodus, when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, God commanded them to slaughter a lamb and apply its blood to their doors. When the angel of death came to kill the firstborn of the Egyptians, it would “pass over” any home with the blood mark, so no harm would befall that family. This is why the festival is called “Passover.” The Jewish people instituted this festival to commemorate God’s salvation.

This festival is directly related to the tenth plague that God sent upon Egypt. To compel the Pharaoh of Egypt to agree to Moses’s demand to let the Israelites leave, God sent ten plagues. The tenth plague decreed that the firstborn son of every Egyptian household and all firstborn livestock must die. God instructed the Israelites to slaughter a lamb and apply its blood to their doorposts and lintel. The angel of death came to Egypt that night, and in the darkness, it would see the blood on the doorposts and pass over that household. This shows that to be saved, an innocent life had to be sacrificed, and salvation was then enacted through the blood.

The Israelites did not slaughter a gentle little lamb but a one-year-old male goat, a strong animal. After the animal was slaughtered, the Israelites took its blood and smeared it on the doorposts, then roasted and ate the meat. They ate it with their belts fastened, sandals on their feet, and staffs in their hands, eating in haste because Moses was about to lead them out of Egypt for a long, 40-year journey through the wilderness.

From then on, when Jewish families celebrate Passover, the children ask the adults, “What does this ceremony mean?” The elders in the family would reply, “It is to commemorate God’s salvation on that night. The firstborn of every Egyptian household was struck down, but we were saved because of the blood of the male goat.” As Paul said, “Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7), so that the angel of death would pass over us.

Jesus is the Lamb of God. His precious blood saves us from death and releases us from the bondage of sin, just as the Israelites were spared from the plague because of the lamb’s blood.

(Compiled and edited based on the Chinese Union Version, a comprehensive biblical interpretation, and recordings from David Pawson’s “Unlocking the Old Testament” series.)