The Blood

Exodus 12:1-13

The lamb had to be a young male lamb without any disease or abnormalities. The priest would
examine it.

Luke 22:16

For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

The Passover meal commemorated the Jews' deliverance from slavery in Egypt (Ex. 13:3-10). It also
had a much deeper spiritual application that, as Jesus explains here, would be fulfilled through His
death. The Jewish nation as a whole had missed any future prophetic meaning of the Passover.

On the night of the original Passover, the Lord passed through the land of Egypt and judged the land
by slaying all the firstborn of men and beasts (Ex. 11:5). The Jews had to slay a spotless lamb (Ex.
12:5) and take its blood and apply it to the door posts of their homes (Ex. 12:7). They were
commanded to remain indoors or under the covering of this blood (Ex. 12:22) until the morning.

When the Lord passed through the land at midnight (Ex. 12:29) to execute His judgment, He passed
over the homes that had applied the lamb's blood to their doors and no one was hurt (Ex. 12:13).
This is a perfect picture of the redemption that Jesus has provided for us.

Everyone deserves judgment because of their sins (Rom. 3:23; 6:23). However, Jesus provided
Himself as a spotless, sacrificial lamb for us (Jn. 1:29,36) so that if we will apply His blood to our lives
by confessing Him as Lord (Rom. 10:9), God will pass over us at the judgment day.

Jesus was sacrificed on the 14th day of the first month of the Jewish year -- the exact day and time
that the Passover lambs were being slain (Jn. 18:28). Truly, "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us"
(1 Cor. 5:7).

This is why the Christian church as a whole does not celebrate the Jewish feast of Passover but has
replaced it with the Lord's Supper or Communion which Jesus instituted during the last part of this
Passover meal (Mt. 26:26-29; Mk. 14:22-25; Lk. 22:19-20).

This passover lamb was symbolic of Christ (1 Corinthians 5:7). Therefore, it had to be without
blemish, which symbolized it was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). In the same way the Israelites had to
eat of this lamb, so we must eat of Christ (John 6:53-58). And when the lamb’s blood was applied to
the doorposts of their homes, the death angel passed over them, doing them no harm.

Likewise, when we make Jesus our personal Savior, His blood is applied to our lives, and Satan has to
pass over us. We have passed from death unto life (John 5:24).

This lamb was pinned up from the tenth day of the month (Exodus 12:3, 6) until the fourteenth day.
That’s three full days.

Heb 9:6 The O.T. priests entered into the holy place, or the first tabernacle, every day to accomplish
their ministry (Exodus 27:21 and 30:7-8). But access to the Holy of Holies was restricted to the high
priest only and only on the Day of Atonement each year (Exodus 30:10 and Leviticus 16).

Heb 9:7 The high priest was the only human who was allowed into the holy of holies, and he could
only enter once each year, on the Day of Atonement (Exodus 30:10 and Leviticus 16). Even then the
high priest had to bring the blood of a sacrifice for himself and the people to sprinkle on the mercy
seat. If he hadn’t cleansed himself properly, he would be killed because he approached the Lord
unworthily (Leviticus 16:12-13). The high priest represented Jesus, the sinless Son of God, and
therefore there could be no sin in him.

Heb 9:8 All of these ordinances and the restrictions on only one person, the high priest, having
access to the holy of holies only on one day per year, symbolized that there was a separation
between God and man. That separation came about because of sin (Isaiah 59:1-2), and this was the
reason there was a continual shedding of blood in the Old Covenant. Animals’ blood could only
symbolize atonement. It could never accomplish atonement. But Jesus’ blood was the perfect
sacrifice that forever removed the barrier between sinful man and Holy God (Hebrews 9:12).

Hebrews 9:22

The judgment of God was: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of
it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17). So, our sin cost us our
lives. But the mercy of God allowed us to substitute animal’s blood (or life) for our own blood under
the O.T. This was not a true atonement, but only a type of the true atonement that would take place
when Christ came and offered His own blood (life) in our stead. Everything God does for us is
dependent on the blood of Jesus that removed our death sentence.

Heb 10:3 Under the O.T. there were continual sacrifices for sins. There were two daily sacrifices as
well as sacrifices every time a person sinned. Then there was the Day of Atonement when a sacrifice
was offered for all the sins of the nation (Hebrews 9:7 and Leviticus 16:29-34). This was repeated
every year, showing that those sacrifices didn’t really work, or they wouldn’t have had to keep
offering them. Therefore, the worshipers lived in a continual state of sin-consciousness. Under the
N.T. with the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, we should not have sin-consciousness. Thank You, Jesus!