Christ in the Old Testament

Exodus 12:7

Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.

Today’s Reading: Exodus 12:1-7 and Mark 15:33-37

Let’s dive into the symbols of the Passover verse by verse.

• This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. (Exodus 12:2)

God changed the calendar to mark the occasion. We also changed our calendar to match up with the birth of Jesus. The Israelite’s freedom from slavery would mark a new beginning. In the same way, our acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior makes us a new creation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Cor 5:17)

• on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family (Exodus 12:3)

The lamb was to be chosen on the tenth day of the month. This would point to another prophecy found in Zechariah 9:9 when Jesus would enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey and a colt. Jesus announced that he was the chosen lamb in Matthew 21:1-11 and entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey and colt on the tenth day of the first month.

• The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect (Exodus 12:5)

The lamb was to be a fully grown male in the prime of its life and without defect as was Jesus at the time of his crucifixion – “a lamb without blemish or defect.” (1 Peter 1:19) Jesus lived a perfect sinless life and was pure in every way. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

• Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. (Exodus 12:6)

Jesus was crucified on the fourteenth day of the month and he died at “twilight.” However we know from the gospels (Mark 15:33-37) that Jesus died at 3pm in the afternoon. The word for twilight is better translated “between the evenings” which is around 3pm which we will dissect further another day. Jesus in fact died at the very time God directed the Israelites to slaughter their lambs.

• Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. (Exodus 12:7)

The blood of Jesus is what saves us from our sin. “And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.” (Heb 13:12) And if you draw a line from the top of the doorframe to the ground and then draw another line from one side of the door frame to the other you will have drawn a cross.

I also find the word for house interesting. The Hebrew word for house is the Hebrew word for ark spelled backwards. We’ve seen a lot of symbology with the ark being the vessel God uses to save Noah. The house would be like an ark to the Israelites. They were to eat the lamb in the house and mark the doorframes with the saving blood of the sacrifice. They were to stay in the house and it would save their firstborns from death just as the ark did for Noah and his family. And just as the cross saves us.

Today’s Prayer: Lord again I am amazed that this was your plan from the beginning. You would send your one and only son to die for our sins and save us from the death we deserve. Help me to have a grateful spirit today.