“The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.” – Exodus 12:13
When God brought judgment on the land of Egypt in order to reveal Himself and free His people from slavery, all that protected the people of Israel from death was the blood of the Passover lamb. For each family, a lamb was sacrificed and the blood of that innocent lamb was placed on the door frame. Because of the blood, death passed over the people of Israel. Where there was no blood, death entered the home and struck. God’s judgment didn’t pass over because the people were better or fundamentally different from the Egyptians. Death passed over because of the power and protection of the blood of the lamb.
This central event of the Old Testament points us to the central truth of the entire Bible. All humans are born into slavery to sin and death. These twist and plague our lives from the moment we first draw breath. We all fall short of God’s holy standard of perfect righteousness and we all deserve God’s condemnation and the penalty of eternal spiritual death and suffering apart from God. But that isn’t God’s desire for us and so He provided a second Passover for His people.
God sent His eternal Son Jesus into the world to live a perfect, sinless life and to give Himself up as a final Passover sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sins. Through the power of His death and resurrection, when we put our faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior, we are protected by the blood of Jesus, our Passover lamb. God’s judgment of death and condemnation passes over all who stand by faith behind the blood of Jesus Christ. We are not better people – we are sinners who have been saved and transformed by God’s free gift of grace. We inherit eternal life by faith in Christ alone. Death passes over because of the power and protection of the blood of the Lamb.