Passover in the Bible

The Passover is the foundational redemptive feast of Scripture, instituted on the night the LORD delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt. According to Exodus 12, each household was commanded to slay a lamb without blemish and to apply its blood to the doorposts and lintel. The LORD declared, "And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you" (EXO.12.13). Where the blood was found, the destroyer would not enter, and the firstborn was spared. This act of substitution lies at the heart of Passover: a life is given so that another may live. The feast was to be a perpetual memorial. "And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations" (EXO.12.14). Each year Israel rehearsed the story, teaching children that "It is the sacrifice of the LORD's passover" (EXO.12.27). The feast was fixed in the calendar at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month (LEV.23.5) and bound the nation's identity to God's saving grace rather than to its own merit. The Passover lamb, the unleavened bread, and the haste of that night all proclaimed that redemption is the LORD's work alone. The New Testament reveals Passover's deepest meaning in Christ. On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus gathered His disciples and said, "With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer" (LUK.22.15), transforming the feast into the Lord's Supper. Paul makes the fulfillment explicit: "For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us" (1CO.5.7). The blood-marked door now points to the cross, where the sinless Lamb of God bore judgment so that all who trust Him are passed over. For believers, Passover is not merely a historical event but a living gospel, calling us to remember, to give thanks, and to walk in the freedom Christ purchased.