Beginning of the End: The Passover Points to Christ

 The Passover was to be both commemorative and symbolic, not only pointing back to the deliverance from Egypt but forward to the greater deliverance that Christ was to accomplish in freeing His people from the bondage of sin. The sacrificial lamb represents “the Lamb of God,” in whom is our only hope of salvation. The apostle Paul wrote, “Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7). It was not enough that the Passover lamb be killed; its blood must be sprinkled on the doorposts. In a similar way, the merits of Christ’s blood must be applied to the soul. We must believe not only that He died for the world but that He died for us individually.

The hyssop symbolized purification. “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7).

The lamb was to be prepared whole, with not a bone broken; so not a bone was to be broken of the Lamb of God, who was to die for us (see John 19:36).

The flesh was to be eaten. It is not enough that we believe on Christ for the forgiveness of sin; by faith we must be constantly receiving spiritual nourishment from Him through His Word. Christ said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life.” “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:53, 54, 63). The followers of Christ must take the Word of God into themselves so that it will become the driving force of life and action. By the power of Christ they must be changed into His likeness and reflect the divine characteristics.

The lamb was to be eaten with bitter herbs, as pointing back to the bitterness of the bondage in Egypt. So when we feed upon Christ, it should be with repentance of heart, because of our sins. The use of unleavened bread—bread without yeast—was also significant. All who would receive life and nourishment from Christ must put away the leaven of sin. So Paul writes to the Corinthian church, “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump. ... Let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:7, 8)

Before obtaining freedom, the slaves must show their faith in the great deliverance. They must place the blood on their houses, and they must separate themselves and their families from the Egyptians and gather together in their own homes. All who failed to follow the Lord’s directions would lose their firstborn by the hand of the destroyer.