Chapter 12: Take A Bath In Lamb's Blood

It's good for you.

Last week we looked at how the plagues that God brought to Egypt were a way of showing the Egyptians that God could uncreate them if he wanted to. You can read about that here:

Today we are diving into the heart of Exodus 12:5–14, unpacking its Salvation theme.

Let’s read.

Exodus 12:5-14 (CSB)

You must have an unblemished animal, a year-old male; you may take it from either the sheep or the goats. You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight. They must take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they eat them. They are to eat the meat that night; they should eat it, roasted over the fire along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over fire—its head as well as its legs and inner organs. You must not leave any of it until morning; any part of it left until morning you must burn. Here is how you must eat it: You must be dressed for travel, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in a hurry; it is the LORD’s Passover. “I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. I am the LORD; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

The Perfect Sacrifice

This passage is about more than smearing the blood of a lamb on a doorpost. It’s about how salvation works, about the process of our redemption. While this passage shows us how God made a way for Israel to escape the terrible last plague - the death of the firstborn son, it teaches us about how God always makes a way for people to be saved from death. In this, God gives us a glimpse, a foreshadowing of the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on the cross - the method he would ultimately use to provide a way out from eternal death.

Notice in the passage that God is super specific about what kind of sacrifice was supposed to be offered. It had to be an unblemished, year-old male sheep or goat, it had to be kept until the fourteenth day, and it had to be slaughtered at twilight. The blood from the animal was to be smeared on the doorposts and lintels of their homes, and they were to consume its roasted flesh that same night with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

God is super specific about these things because they pointed to a very specific sacrifice that was yet to come. The lamb or goat had to be unblemished - to show that the ultimate sacrifice had a be perfect in every way. A yearling was fully grown - to show that the ultimate sacrifice was going to be an adult who had lived a perfect life. It was slaughtered at twilight reminds me that God blocked out the sun when Jesus ultimately died on the cross. All these details point us to how God was ultimately going to fix the sin problem that had existed since the fall of sin.

The Need For Salvation

We have to remember that Israel needed to be saved, not just from Egypt but also from their own sin. Sure, they were the chosen people of God but they were just as guilty as the Egyptians. Their sin, like the sin of the Egyptians, warranted death. So when God passed through Egypt, he had every right to take the lives of the Israelites too. The only way anyone in Egypt or Israel could be saved was through the blood of the perfect lamb. And unless God saw the blood of the sacrifice covering a household, death would follow.

The message was clear: sin demands death. If you don’t want to die, you could only be saved through a perfect sacrifice. Without the death and blood of a perfect sacrifice, death will follow. But because there was a perfect sacrifice, salvation followed.

This theme follows through the rest of the Bible. Ultimately that ends up being how God always saves. Salvation is going to be a mighty act of God, an act that should lead to our death, but because of a perfect sacrifice, results in our salvation.

It is no coincidence that when Jesus was being crucified (which happened during the Passover), the people cried out to Pilate, "Let his blood be upon us and on our children." It was Jesus’ blood that had to cover them in order to save them.

And just like when God’s angel saw the blood on the houses of the Israelites, he passed over them, so too when God see the blood of Jesus on us, his wrath passes over us. We are saved just like the Israelites.

So What?

Perhaps you have been wondering whether your sins are truly forgiven or if you are good enough for God. This part of scripture teaches us that it is not about your goodness or deeds; it's about the blood of Jesus. God didn't do a moral check on the Israelites before deciding to pass over them. If He saw the blood, and He spared them. So too, with us, it is not whether we live a good life that saves us but rather whether we are covered by the blood of Jesus through faith in him. Where there is faith, he will pass over.

This is why, regardless of how they are feeling from day to day, a Christian can always sing:

It is well, with my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!

My sin, not in part but the whole

Is nailed to the cross,

and I bear it no more

Praise the Lord,

praise the Lord,

O my soul!