When the Israelites were in Egyptian bondage, God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and determined to lead Israel out of Egypt.
The hard-hearted Pharaoh rebelled against this (Exod. 5:2). Because Pharaoh refused to let Israel go, God brought the ten plagues on Egypt. The last of these plagues involved God destroying the firstborn of the Egyptians (Exod. 11:4-5).
While God’s wrath was against Egypt, the Israelites were promised safety if they sacrificed a lamb without blemish as instructed, and put the blood of the lamb on “the two door posts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they shall eat it” (Exod. 12:7).
God promised “The blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt” (Exod. 12:13).
New Testament Christians recognize Christ as our “Passover” (1 Cor. 5:7).
As the blood of the sacrificial lamb saved the Israelites from the effects of the tenth plague, so does Christ’s blood save us from destruction when we obey Him. While the Israelites had reason to be thankful for what God did for them in Egypt, we have even greater reason to thank God for the blood of Jesus that allows us to escape eternal death.
– Michael Hickox