Our Passover Lamb
The Passover is one of the most central and enduring feasts in the story of Israel. Instituted in Exodus 12, it commemorates God’s mighty deliverance of His people from slavery in Egypt. Yet more than an historical remembrance, the Passover is a prophetic feast that points directly to the work of Jesus Christ, our true Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7).
By looking at the biblical commands, the traditions of the feast, and its fulfillment in Christ, we see God’s plan of redemption woven throughout.
The Story of Passover
The backdrop of Passover is the great showdown between Pharaoh and the God of Israel. After nine devastating plagues, God announced the final plague: the death of the firstborn. But He also provided deliverance for those who trusted Him through the blood of a lamb.
A Chosen Lamb
On the tenth day of the month, each household selected a lamb. It was kept for four days, becoming almost like a family pet before its sacrifice (Exodus 12:3–6).
The lamb had to be male and without blemish (Exodus 12:5), set apart for death.
Deliverance came not by the spotless life of the lamb, but by its sacrificial death.
The Blood Applied
The lamb’s blood was applied with hyssop to the doorposts and lintel of each home (Exodus 12:22). When the destroyer came, he would “pass over” the houses marked by the blood.
This foreshadows Christ, who shed His blood on the cross. Just as the Israelites were safe under the blood, so too believers are secure in Christ.
The Meal of Deliverance
The lamb was roasted with fire (a picture of God’s judgment) and eaten with unleavened bread (purity) and bitter herbs (the bitterness of bondage).
Nothing could be left until morning; the rest was to be consumed or burned, teaching daily dependence on God.
The people ate in haste, dressed for travel—with loins girded, sandals on feet, and staff in hand (Exodus 12:11). They were a redeemed people ready to depart.
The Passover in Israel’s Life
Through the centuries, Passover became deeply embedded in Israel’s culture and worship.
It marked the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when all leaven was removed from the home.
During Temple times, lambs were sacrificed in the Temple courts while the Levites sang the Hallel psalms (113–118).
The Passover meal (Seder) was always a community celebration, reminding Israel that redemption was for the whole people.
After the destruction of the Temple, the Seder developed into its current form, with symbolic elements added such as wine, parsley, salt water, bitter herbs, and the afikomen—a piece of matzah hidden and later brought out, a powerful picture of resurrection for Messianic believers.
Prophecy in the Passover
The Passover was never just about Egypt. Scripture repeatedly revisits the feast, from Joshua entering the land (Joshua 5:10–11), to Hezekiah and Josiah’s reforms (2 Chronicles 30; 2 Kings 23), to the return from exile (Ezra 6:19), even to Ezekiel’s vision of the future Temple (Ezekiel 45:21).
And in the New Testament, Paul declares:
“Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
The parallels are unmistakable:
A lamb without blemish (Exodus 12:5; 1 Peter 1:19).
No bone broken (Exodus 12:46; John 19:36).
Blood applied for salvation (Exodus 12:7; Hebrews 9:14).
Deliverance from slavery and death into freedom and life (Exodus 12:11; Romans 6:17–18).
Jesus Christ As Our Passover
When John the Baptist declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29), he pointed directly to Jesus as the true Passover Lamb.
On the very week when Jewish families were selecting their Passover lambs, Jesus entered Jerusalem and was set apart.
While the lambs were being slaughtered in the Temple, Christ was crucified on the cross.
His blood, like that of the lambs, saves all who apply it by faith.
Just as death “passed over” the homes marked by blood in Egypt, so eternal judgment passes over those who are in Christ.
Living in the Power
Paul urges believers to live out the truth of the Passover:
“Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:8).
The Passover is not only a historical feast fulfilled in Christ—it is a daily reality. As God’s redeemed people, we are called to live ready for His coming, purified by His blood, feasting on the Bread of Life, and walking in freedom from sin.
The Passover is one of Scripture’s clearest foreshadows of the gospel. What began in Egypt with the blood of a lamb finds its ultimate fulfillment at Calvary, where the Lamb of God shed His blood once for all.
As Israel remembered God’s deliverance with the cry, “Next year in Jerusalem!” we remember with joy the greater deliverance already secured in Christ—and we look forward to the marriage supper of the Lamb, when redemption is complete.
