Lord Christ Our Passover Lamb | Exodus 12 Devotional

“The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.” —EXODUS 12:13

The book of Exodus contains the most frequently repeated story in the entire Bible. Rich in its heritage, events and the power of God, it paints a dynamic portrait that foreshadows the “Lamb of God”, and illustrates the coming out of sin and into the fullness of God.

For four hundred years, the Hebrew people suffered bitterly under Egyptian captivity. Their only hope for freedom was the promise God had made centuries before when He told Abraham He would intervene and deliver His people. That day had finally come. “On that same night, I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn – both men and animals – and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt” (Exodus 12:12). Every Hebrew family was instructed to take an unblemished year old male lamb, slaughter it, and smear its blood on the sides, tops and doorframes of their houses. They were to eat the meat roasted over the fire and leave nothing left over. That night, the angel of death passed over every home smeared with blood and entered every Egyptian home. 

The Passover is depicting, in advance, the work of Jesus Christ. The lamb each Hebrew family chose; male, in the prime of life and unblemished, was representative of Jesus Christ. The blood of the lamb is symbolic of the blood of Christ that would be shed for us, and become our only means whereby we may be forgiven and brought out of the bondage of sin. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5:7, “For Christ, our Passover lamb is sacrificed for us.”  

This story of the Passover is given to us as a kind of a master key to the rest of the Bible. We are all enslaved to sin, which operates within us, and is a condition we are born into as a consequence of the fall. Throughout Scripture, the problem with sin is not so much what it does to us, but what it does to God. Because we have a just and righteous God, sin provokes His anger, wrath and judgment, which had to be answered. The Passover addressed the judgment of God, and the cross of Jesus was necessary to appease the wrath of God. To turn aside His wrath, God sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sin in order that we may be forgiven and reconciled to Him.

Deliverance from Egypt is a portrayal of deliverance from sin, and entering the Promised Land is a portrayal of entering into the fullness of Christ. The criterion for coming out of sin and into the fullness of God is that we recognize our own bankruptcy, and cling to only one thing – that Jesus Christ died for me.

Dear Lord, it doesn’t seem adequate to simply say, thank You for dying for me on the cross. You give me life, Lord, and You have my heart. May I live to serve You.  

What does the cross of Christ mean to me?