Foreshadowed, Part 3

In Exodus 12 we find another Old Testament picture of the death of Christ. The nation of Israel was in bondage in Egypt. God sent many plagues on the nation of Egypt to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go free. God told Moses as the final plague He was going to kill all the firstborn among the Egyptians and then Pharaoh would let them go. These are the instructions that Moses gave to the children of Israel.

In Exodus 12:21‑23, ‘Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.’

Each family was to take a lamb, kill the lamb and catch the blood in a basin. Then they were to take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood and sprinkle the blood on the lintel, the top piece of the door, and the two door posts. They were then to go in the house and stay in the house until morning. That night the death angel went through the land at midnight. He entered into every house in the land of Egypt that did not have the blood on the lintel and door posts, and the first born male child of those families and the first born of all their animals was killed. The death angel passed over the houses that had the blood applied.

I’m sure there were probably some who didn’t believe that God would really do such a thing. But it happened, just like God said. The people who believed God did what He told them to do. The lamb had to die, so the blood could be put on the door posts and the lintel, so the death angel would pass over the house and the firstborn could live. The Lamb died in the place of the firstborn. That is exactly what Jesus Christ did when He died on the cross of Calvary. He died on the cross so that His blood could be applied to your life and to mine, so that when we stand before God in judgment God could be justified in passing over us rather than judging us for our sin.