Exodus 10-12:36
In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
Exodus 12:11-13
The significance of the Passover cannot be overstated. It is perhaps the defining event for the Israelites, celebrated to this day, and it foreshadows the Cross of Christ.
I cannot possibly do more than barely scratch the surface of what the LORD does here, but let me just mention three things:
- Readiness
- The LORD instructs each Israelite family to bring a lamb into their home a few days before the night of Passover. The lamb is not snatched from the flock moments before the slaughter. Instead it lives within the household. The lamb becomes a family pet.
- Everyone is to be ready to go — belt and shoes on, staff in hand — and the meal is to be eaten in haste.
- Judgment
- All the plagues, but especially this tenth and final one, constitute judgments on the gods of Egypt.
- Mercy
- The LORD shows mercy to those who — following His instructions, strange as they may seem — place the blood of the lambs on their doorposts and lintels.
- The LORD sees the blood and passes over.
In our own lives God calls us to welcome Christ into our lives as the Lamb of God, and He calls us to get ready. He warns of judgment on false gods, anything that would draw us away from Him. And He shows us mercy, seeing the Blood of the Cross, and passing over us, that we might have life. Of course, just as with the Israelites in the first Passover, receiving that mercy requires our cooperation.