And Moses called all the elders of Israel, and said to them, Seize and take yourselves lambs for your families, and kill the passover.
Israel's rescue turns on one command. It travels from God to Moses, from Moses to the elders, and from the elders to every home: take a lamb and kill it. Everything that follows — the blood, the shelter, the escape from Egypt — rests on whether ordinary families did that one thing.
Moses gathers the leaders and repeats what God had already told him. What the people did next, and what they told their children, matters just as much.
In verses 21 to 28 Moses gathers the elders to give them the directions already looked at. On hearing the message the people "bowed their heads and worshiped. Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did" (vv. 27, 28). One more interesting detail follows. The instructions provide for teaching the children the meaning of the passover (vv. 26, 27). So from generation to generation they were to hand on the account of the Lord's delivering grace and power when He struck the Egyptians.
"Go and select lambs for yourselves" — the choosing came first. The steps then ran in a set order, and stopping partway through would have saved no one.
God made every step plain for His people. Even the slowest among them could hardly misunderstand something so essential to his salvation. First they were to select the lamb for sacrifice. Then they were to bring it into the house. Four days later they were to kill it. Last, they were to sprinkle the blood on the lintel and side-posts of the house of every man of Israel. It was not enough to kill the lamb, or even to keep the blood in a basin. They had to sprinkle it in obedience to the word of the Lord.
"Kill the Passover lamb" is a blunt order. Israel was not proving itself better than Egypt. It was admitting that it stood under the same sentence.
Faith recognised God's testimony by trusting the effectiveness of the blood sprinkled on the door. So it could let God come in judgment in complete safety. God, seeing the blood, would pass over His believing people. By faith Moses kept the passover. Notice this. By putting the blood on the door, the people admitted they stood under God's righteous judgment just as much as the Egyptians. God had given them what preserved them from it; but it was because they were guilty and deserved it. No one can stand before God.
One lamb covered one household, not the whole nation. That put the night in the father's hands.
Clearly Israel kept the passover family by family, on the principle of a lamb for each household. Family by family, the blood sprinkled on their own homes sheltered them. So the father's act — his obedience of faith — kept his household safe from the stroke of judgment that fell on Egypt. Noah's faith led him to build the ark, and the ark sheltered his whole family from the flood. In the same way, the parent's faith at the passover in Egypt led to the sprinkling of the blood.
What one household did could not cover the house next door — then or now.
In Egypt that night no man could help his neighbour. Each had to sprinkle the blood for himself. So now no man can shelter under the cover of another's faith. Each must take Christ's precious blood for himself as the only safeguard of his soul.
The New Testament does not treat this lamb as a picture only. It applies the rules given here to Christ Himself.
The soldiers broke the legs of the two others to hasten their death. They broke no bone of our Lord, and so Scripture was fulfilled. The reference must be to Psalm 34:20, and to the instructions given about the Passover lamb in Exodus 12, repeated in Numbers 9. This is worth noting. It shows how closely the Spirit of God ties the lamb to the One it pictured: what is said of the picture is applied to Him. With this agree Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 5, "Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed."
- Select. The choosing of the lamb came first. Every step God gave was plain, so no one could plead confusion.
- Kill. By putting blood on the door, Israel admitted it deserved the same judgment as Egypt. Only the death of the lamb stood between them and that judgment.
- Sprinkle. Blood left in the basin saved nobody. They had to put it on the door in obedience to God's word.
- Family by family. The father's obedience of faith sheltered his whole house. Still, no one could hide behind a neighbour's faith.
- Hand it on. Israel bowed, worshipped, and obeyed. Then they taught the children what the night meant, so every generation retold God's deliverance.
And take a bunch of hyssop, and dip [it] in the blood that is in the bason, and smear the lintel and the two door-posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.
This verse gives Israel the last practical step of the Passover night: put the blood from the basin onto the doorway, then stay indoors until morning. Small details — the brush, the three places marked, the shut door — carry the whole weight of shelter from judgment.
A dead lamb by itself would have changed nothing.
The slain lamb would not have ensured the protection of a single household. If the people had rested in the fact that the lamb was killed, nothing would have stopped the destroyer from entering their houses. Every house in all their tribes would have had its dead, just like the houses of the Egyptians. No; it was not the death of the lamb, but the sprinkling of the blood, that secured their safety. Let the reader ponder it well. Is there no danger that he rests in the fact of Christ's death for protection? Does he never stop to ask whether he is under its blessed power and value before God?
So how did an Israelite come under that protection?
It was simply and solely through the obedience of faith. They had nothing to do except believe and obey. It was not for them to discuss the method provided, whether it was reasonable or not, or what it might be worth. Everything depended upon the heed they gave to the word of God.
The brush God named was the smallest of plants. One writer draws out what that pictures.
Solomon "spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall" (1 Kings 4:33) — that is, the greatest and the least of the plants. The hyssop was a little shrub that did not even take root in the ground, but came out between two stones in the wall. Have I any part in my own redemption? Yes. What is it? My sins, that is all. And of course, if I truly sense what my sins are, I will bow before God in repentance, in self-judgment, and in owning those sins. I believe the bunch of hyssop expresses what goes on in the soul of a sinner who has been brought to see his guilt. It is contrition before God, a sense of my sins and of what I am. My sins would have brought me into death and judgment before God, and nothing but the blood of the Substitute can meet the need of my case. So, in faith, and knowing my need, I put that blood between my soul and God, and I am safe.
The verse names the lintel and the two doorposts. The threshold is left out. One commentator sees that gap as the line between faith and contempt.
God said, Put the blood upon the lintel and the two side posts, and that is where faith puts it — above me and around me. But where does modern criticism put it? I will tell you. These critics put it on the threshold; they trample the blood of Christ beneath their feet.
Once the door was shut, nobody inside could see the blood they had just put on.
The blood was on the outside of the house. The people inside could not see it. The blood was for the eye of God alone. In the darkness of midnight His eye could tell whether there was blood on the door or not.
Two homes could be equally safe and not equally happy.
Because in both cases the blood was there, both were equally safe, equally secure. Both were not equally happy, both were not equally certain of their security. And why? Simply because they did not equally credit the testimony or word of God. The blood outside made both equally secure. But to be equally assured, they needed the testimony of God, carried inside and believed.
The last command keeps everyone indoors until daylight, with no stepping out to check the doorpost.
Those covered by the blood had to remain in the house until the morning. Judgment was falling on the Egyptian world. The firstborn were to stay safely housed beneath the blood. When the morning appeared their deliverance from Egypt became an accomplished fact. We pass through the night of this world to the brightness of the morning that is coming. Thanks be to God, the efficacy of the blood of Christ abides throughout the night. No fresh application of it is needed.
- Shed — a killed lamb saved nobody by itself. Without the blood applied, Israelite homes would have had their dead too.
- Applied — blood left in the basin pictures the person who knows Christ died, but never takes that death as his own.
- Hyssop — God chose the least of plants as the brush. The blood is claimed from a place of self-judgment and confessed sin.
- Placed — above and around the door, never on the threshold. Faith puts the blood overhead, not underfoot.
- Sheltered — the mark is outside, for God's eye. Safety rests on the blood, and peace rests on believing His word about it, all night until morning.
And Jehovah will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel, and on the two door-posts, Jehovah will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come into your houses to smite [you].
The night before Israel left Egypt, the Lord Himself came through the land in judgment. Every household lay in its path — Israelite as well as Egyptian. One thing made the difference: a mark of blood on the doorway, and God's promise to hold the destroyer back at such a door.
This night was not one more plague. William Kelly says the question settled then was a question about sin, and Israel stood in its path as much as Egypt.
But the question decided that Passover night affected the Jew no less than the Egyptian. God was there as Judge, dealing with man's sin. How then could Israel escape? This is what had to be set out: a slain lamb becomes the only means of security — the sprinkled blood of the lamb. Other requirements on God's part showed that this had a different and infinitely more solemn character than the earlier plagues. It was a fact, but also a type — not a type of some earthly trouble, but of judgment before the eyes of God: the judgment of sin. So this was not merely insects, or natural forces turned against Egypt, but God employing a destroyer against the firstborn of man and beast.
The mark on the door carried a message, and the destroyer was the one who read it.
The destroying angel passed through the land of Egypt and struck the firstborn in every house. Israel escaped by the death of the lamb, and by that alone. The blood sprinkled on the doorpost told the destroyer that the sentence of death had already been carried out, and so he passed over. So the blood marked off the houses of the Israelites from those of the Egyptians. When it was a question of life or death, the blood, and the blood alone, fixed the dividing line.
Edward Dennett presses a detail: the verse ties safety to blood on the door, not to a lamb that died.
The slain lamb would not have secured the protection of a single household. Had the people rested in the fact that the lamb was killed, the destroyer would have found no barrier to his entrance into their houses. There would not have been a house in all their tribes without its dead, just like those of the Egyptians. No; it was not the death of the lamb, but the sprinkling of the blood, that secured their safety.
What does "pass over" mean? W. W. Fereday finds the answer in Isaiah 31:5, where older translations use "pass over" for the word the ESV renders "spare".
Jehovah "passing through" is one thing; Jehovah "passing over" is quite another. Isaiah 31:5 will help us here: "Like birds hovering, so the LORD of hosts will protect Jerusalem; He will protect and deliver it; He will spare and rescue it." The language of Isaiah 31 is very like that of Exodus 12, and its meaning is clear. It gives the idea of a mother bird hovering over her nest, watching it closely and mounting guard over her young. This is what Jehovah promised to do in Egypt for all who, obeying His word, sprinkled the blood on their houses. He would Himself be the protector of such people. He would Himself stand between them and all harm.
Turpin sets two obedient Israelites side by side, and separates being safe from feeling safe.
It is no question of what an Israelite was, or of what he felt. What God looked for as He passed through the land that night was the lintel sprinkled with the blood of the appointed lamb. Wherever that was before His eyes, God was satisfied, and they were secure… Suppose one Israelite obeys God's directions about the lamb and the blood in every detail, then spends that terrible night inside in fear and anxiety. Another obeys the same commands equally, sprinkles the lintel, and goes in to rest quietly, happy and assured… In both cases the blood was there, so both were equally safe. Both were not equally happy… simply because they did not equally believe the testimony or word of God.
J. N. Darby applies the same principle to God's dealings with us.
And just so in God's dealings with us: the judgment that has passed on Christ because of sin is the security of every believer against judgment… God cannot pass over the blood of the Lord Jesus and charge to sinners the sins He has washed away. He cannot charge sin to a believer without condemning the value of His blood-shedding, and in effect denying that it works.
- Judge. God came through Egypt dealing with sin, and Israel stood in the path as much as Egypt.
- Blood. The mark on the door said the death sentence had already fallen on a substitute. That alone drew the dividing line.
- Applied. A lamb killed but not sprinkled would have left the house open. God looked for blood on the door.
- Guarded. "Pass over" pictures God hovering over the marked house. He stood between His people and the destroyer.
- Assured. Everyone behind the blood was equally safe. Only those who believed God's word were at rest.
And ye shall observe this as an ordinance for thee and for thy sons for ever.
This command comes with the first Passover, and it looks far beyond that night. Why does God bind His people to a practice for ever, and what does it ask of their sons?
One writer collects the names the chapter gives to this one day.
Israel was to remember this day for ever (v. 14) with a feast each year. Several different names show how important it is: (1) "the Lord's Passover" (v. 11); (2) "a memorial" (v. 14); (3) "a feast" (v. 14); (4) "an ordinance" (v. 24); (5) "a service" (v. 25); and (6) "the sacrifice" (v. 27).
Where that list says "an ordinance," the ESV reads "statute."
The first Passover sheltered Israel while judgment fell that night. Every later Passover was different, and one writer presses that difference.
They were to keep the Passover every year as a remembrance at a time when there was no passing over. They were in the land by then, as we are in heavenly places in Christ. They were celebrating a deliverance and redemption accomplished long ago… It was (v. 24) "a statute for you and for your sons forever."… It was a remembrance that never ends.
Why command the same feast for ever? One writer points to a weakness in us.
There is a dangerous tendency in the human heart to forget, particularly in matters relating to God. Think of Deuteronomy, the book that gives us Moses' final addresses to the people. Again and again we meet warnings there: beware in case you forget, be careful to remember.… Peter says one mark of a backslider is that he has "forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins" (2 Peter 1:9).
The same writer moves from Israel's yearly feast to the memorial the Lord left His own.
The Lord's Supper comes to mind here. Even One so unique as the Saviour, and a sacrifice so great as the sacrifice of Himself, would be in danger of being forgotten by His own. So He gave His disciples first the bread, and then the cup, saying, "Do this in remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:19-20). While He is away on high, the Lord's Supper stays with the Church as the memorial of her once-slain Lord and Saviour.
Verse 24 also answers two questions: who keeps the memorial, and for how long.
Notice too, "All the congregation of Israel shall keep it" (v. 47). Take that with verse 24, "You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever." Together they teach us that every redeemed one, knowing peace, is called to the memorial feast, without exception. They also teach that this observance goes on until the moment comes when memorials are needed no more. Forgetfulness and indifference toward redeeming grace can never enter the Father's house, though sadly we know all too well that they creep in here.
Whether the children ever ask about the feast depends on how their parents keep it.
So much would depend on the way the Israelites looked forward to the Passover. If they were eager for it, and kept it with reverence and warmth, the children would surely be interested and ask, Why? If they treated it with indifference, or as a tiresome duty, they would not. But once their interest woke up, the parents had a gripping story to tell. They could tell of God's care for them, and how He delivered them from slavery and made them a free people. Their homes at those times would have a joyful ring about them. Songs of praise to their Redeemer-God would break out, and the children's voices would join in.
One writer takes up both what the children are told and where they stand.
God had the children of Israel in His thoughts too. Parents were to teach them carefully what the Passover feast meant. The chapter pictures the children asking at a later time, "What do you mean by this service?" The parents were to answer, "It is the sacrifice of the LORD's Passover, for He passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when He struck the Egyptians but spared our houses." Let us in our day make sure that we are under the shelter of the blood of the Lamb ourselves. And let us make sure our children stand in the same place of safety with God. The wrath of God against all ungodliness is a tremendous reality. Nothing can screen us or our children from it but the Saviour's blood.
- Blood first. The ordinance points back to the sheltering blood. Children need to be under that blood, not just told about it.
- Ordinance. The chapter gives the day six names: Passover, memorial, feast, ordinance, service, sacrifice. Verse 24 supplies one of them.
- Memory. The human heart forgets, so God sets up a memorial: the yearly Passover for Israel, and the Lord's Supper for the Church while He is away.
- Sons. How the parents keep the feast is itself the teaching. Eagerness and reverence make children ask; indifference keeps them silent.
- For ever. Every redeemed person is called to the memorial, without exception. It goes on until the day memorials are needed no more.