The Passover as Picture

The Passover Exodus 12 is the most detailed portrait of salvation in Jesus Christ.

Some of the symbolism of this historic event I will go over.

First, it should be noticed that Jesus Christ is not just the Passover lamb that was slain for the redeeming blood. Being that, He is also the ENTIRE Passover. In other words all the matters pertaining to the Passover point just as much to Jesus Christ.

Paul says that Christ is the WHOLE matter of the Passover.

" For even Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us." (1 Cor. 5:7)

Christ is not just symbolized by the lamb. Christ is symbolized by the entire Passover including the lintel of the doorpost, the house, the bitter herbs, the roasted flesh, the hyssop, the basin. All these items speak of Christ the reality of the Passover in Exodus.

Christ is the worldwide Passover. When God sees the blood of Christ upon the man or woman identified with Christ, His eternal judgment will PASS OVER that one because of the Redemption of Christ.

We identify with Christ by believing in Christ ... ie believing INTO Christ Who is the Holy Spirit or Christ in a form in which Christ is both enterable and can enter into us.

In the spiritual realm Christ can both enter into us and we can enter into the living Christ. And when God sees the blood of the redemptive work of the Son of God upon us, He will pass over us as to eternal damnation.

"When I see the blood, I will pass over you."

English Standard Version
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.

New American Standard Bible
The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; 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.

All Christians know that Christ is the Lamb of God who accomplished redemption for us because John 1:29 says Jesus was the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

So the lamb that they killed, sacrificed, and whose blood they sprinkled and roasted flesh they ate points to the Son of God.

They not only used the blood, but they also were to eat the lamb in Exodus. This means that Christ is to get INTO people. You are what you eat.

But HOW were they to eat the lamb whose blood they sprinkled? Its significant. They were to eat the lamb "roasted with fire" (Exodus 12:8).

Christ was the spotless Lamb of God. He was sinless. But for our sake He was burned up on the cross by the divine judgment of God. He was "roasted" in divine wrath upon our sins.

"[R]oasted with fire" there signifies God’s holy wrath against sin was exercised in judgment. When Christ was on the cross, the holy fire of God judged Him and consumed Him. Psalm 22:14 and 15 prophetically show Christ , “My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws.” The Son of God cried out , “I thirst” (John 19:28), because He was being burned by the holy fire of God’s judgment.

The lamb was not to be eaten raw (12:9). In 12:9 the children of Israel were charged not to eat of the lamb raw. Today some modernists and Humanists do not believe in Christ’s redemption. They do not believe He died as a vicarious sacrifice on our behalf. They attempt to eat Him “raw” by just regarding Christ as a model or example of human living for them to imitate.

To eat Jesus roasted with fire is to believe He died burned up by the judgment of God for your sins. To eat Jesus raw is to just regard Jesus as an example of a good natural man to imitate. We must not just regard Christ as a good model to imitate. We must take Him into us as the One ROASTED under the divine judgment of God for our sins.

The burning wrath that should come upon you and I fell on Jesus the ROASTED Lamb of God on Calvary. That's how we should take Jesus into us.

Next we will see that they were not to eat the lamb "boiled in water" (Exo. 12:9)

The Passover lamb was not to be eaten raw and was not to be eaten "boiled with water".

To eat of Christ as if He were “boiled with water” is to regard His death on the cross not as death for redemption, but as martyrdom. Many people today do not believe that Christ died as the Redeemer under Divine Judgment. Rather they have a concept that Christ as just was persecuted by man and died as a martyr. In other words they take Christ as just a good man who sacrificed Himself for His teachings.

This would be to regard Jesus as like a slain Socrates or a slain Abraham Lincoln or a slain Martin Luther King. Jesus to these people was just a good man who unfortunately died a martyr's death because of His good teachings.

To eat the lamb "boiled in water" is to attempt to take Christ's death as just a martyr's death. These skeptical people disregard the New Testament and eat Christ not according to revelation from God.

To be boiled in water is to undergo suffering, but not the suffering of holy fire. Rather, this suffering is simply the suffering of persecution.

So these three ways people try to eat the lamb. These three ways people try to take in Christ -

Roasted with fire,
Raw,
Boiled with water

To take Christ roasted under the divine wrath of God on account of our sins is the right way to "eat" Christ.

As orthodox Christians, we should believe that on the cross Christ suffered for us under God’s judgment. He was burned and “roasted” by the holy fire of God’s wrath. To accomplish eternal redemption Christ as judged by God judged for us. He is the Redeemer and the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.

Modernists, advocate taking Christ “raw.” This is to take Christ as an example and to imitate the way He behaved. And other modernists advocate taking Christ “boiled.” This is to regard Christ’s death on the cross as persecution and martyrdom, not as death for our redemption.

We should ask ourselves how we take Christ. And we should really take this living Christ into us as even to "eat" would indicate.


We have to choose whether we will take Christ— roasted, raw, or boiled. If you believe that Christ died on the cross merely as a martyr because of man’s persecution, then you eat the Passover lamb by boiling it in water. If you only think you need to imitate the good example of Jesus then you attempt to eat Him raw.

If you believe that He died as our Redeemer, being roasted by the holy fire of God, then you eat Him as God commanded the Passover lamb to be eaten - roasted in fire.

The Passover lamb was also to have its head eaten, its legs eaten, and all its inwards eaten -

ASV
Eat not of it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roast with fire; its head with its legs and with the inwards thereof.

AMP
9 Eat not of it raw nor boiled at all with water, but roasted— its head, its legs, and its inner parts.

Exodus 12:10 says, “And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.”

When the morning came nothing of the Passover lamb was to be left remaining. The symbolism of this means that we are to receive Christ in a full way, not partially. We should open our whole being and receive Jesus Christ in a full way by faith.

We do not promise to be better or self improve. We only OPEN up and receive this Wonderful Jesus Christ in a full way. Nothing of Him is left remaining because we completely trust Jesus to come into our hearts. Our salvation is not in our own power to change or do anything. Our salvation is fully in Him to get INTO us. We EAT Christ and EAT Him completely leaving none of Christ left un-taken in. Nothing of the Passover lamb was to remain uneaten by the morning.

The Passover intructions also included not allowing any bone of the lamb to be broken. This is in Exodus 12:46

King James Bible
In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
It is to be eaten in one house. You may not take any of the meat outside the house, and you may not break any of its bones.

Originally posted by Kevin Lee Poracan

Exodus 12:22 says, “And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin”

The blood was put on the entrance of the house, rather than, say, the roof. The entrance of a house is to allow the proper persons and things to come into the house. An entrance will shut out anyone or anything improper from entering the house. The fact that the blood of the Passover lamb was put on the lintel and the two side posts of the door implies that the blood opens the way for us to get into Christ, who is typified by the house.

The house represents Christ and the blood on the doorpost and lintel allows sinners to enter into Christ. The redeemed ones come into the house, not through the roof or through a window, but through the door that has been sprinkled with the redeeming blood.


Our ability to enter into Jesus Christ into Christ has been guaranteed by His redeeming blood! We received a warm welcome from God when we enter into Christ the proper way, through the door sprinkled with His redeeming blood.

We cannot sneak in through the roof or any other way. The proper way with the proper welcome is through His redemption, His dying for us on the cross as Savior.

In the Passover the blood on the door protected the redeemed ones from God’s judgment. As 12:13 says, the blood was to be “a token upon the houses” where the children of Israel were. God says “For Jehovah will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, Jehovah will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you” (12:23) . The same blood opened the way for the redeemed ones to get into the house and closed the gates to the destroyer. In this way God's redeemed ones were guarded from judgment.

This is a picture of the sinner's entering into Christ for salvation from eternal punishment. The Passover in Egypt was used to teach us these truths.

Both the lamb and the house are symbols of Jesus Christ. In other words the lamb is the house. But the house is the lamb also. Both signify Christ.

The lamb is the means of redemption, and the house is the means of preservation. Whoever is redeemed by the lamb is preserved and kept by the house. Jesus Christ preserves whatever He redeems. . Christ redeems the believers and He eternally keeps those who enter into Him. Christ is the Lamb / House. He is the Redeemer and the Preserver.

The symbol of our identification with Christ is here:
In the Passover the blood of the lamb was on the door, and the meat of the lamb was in the house. The lamb, the house, and those who enjoyed the Passover really became one.

What is the symbolism of the hyssop plant that is used to sprinkle the lamb's blood?

A bunch of hyssop was used to put the blood of the lamb on the lintel and the doorposts. First Kings 4:33 says that, in his wisdom, Solomon “spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall.”

Solomon's wisdom indicates that hyssop was one of the smallest of the plants. This is a symbol of our faith. According to the revelation in the New Testament, the thing that is the smallest in quantity is our faith (Matt. 17:20). The hyssop points to our faith. And it means that God does not require that our faith be great and huge. The blood was not sprinkled by a limbs of a cedar tree but by a small hyssop plant. That is a plant small enough to grow inbetween the cracks of a wall.

None of us could meet such a requirement to supply a great big level of faith. Christ can come into us as Lord and Savior if we come with just a little faith. God requires that we have just a little faith. Even if our faith is very small, we still can apply the Passover lamb.

A man or woman can be eternally Passed Over by eternal judgment just by praying “Lord Jesus, thank You for dying for me,”. One will be saved by confessing Jesus is Lord and believing that God has raised Him from the dead. Even such a small amount of faith will save him. It is not the size of man's faith that is important but the FAITHFULNESS of God Himself to His word. And our faith to apply eternal redemption is likened to the small hyssop plant.


Actually, one can be saved just by saying, “Lord, thank You.” This is faith that is like hyssop that springs out of the wall. Just a little faith in Christ to save you and the blood of Christ is applied.

To enter into Christ for eternal redemption is therefore not that difficult.
The difficult part has been done by the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Impressive Sonship...thank you..

Originally posted by checkbaiter
Impressive Sonship...thank you..

There is symbolism also in the way the Israelites were to eat the Passover lamb

In this message we shall consider the way to apply the Passover lamb. They were to eat the roasted Passover lam with their loins girded,
with shoes on the feet, with staff in the Hand, and in haste.

“And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is Jehovah’s passover” (Exodus 12:11) (Heb.).

The children of Israel were eating the Passover lamb, like an army. Exodus 12:51 says that the Lord brought the children of Israel “out of the land of Egypt by their armies.” The eating with a readiness to "move out" signifies they were as an army ready to march.

Christians should consider Christ's redemption as the commencement of a marching out of the world. They are not to think of lingering or prolonging thier stay. They are being saved by Jesus Christ in order to come out of the sinful world as the army of Jehovah. It is not just a matter of individual salvation. It is a matter of God's army of saved making a spiritual and moral exodus out from under Satan's world.

Often the concept of Christians is not like an army. Instead some receive Christ as if expecting to ride a
Not many Christians today realize that they should be an army. Sometimes people have a concept that they are being saved by Jesus to be carried in a palanquin away to heaven. The picture in the book of Exodus, is of that the redeemed people eat the Passover in the way as God’s army.

Exodus 12:11 says the children of Israel ate with their loins girded. Before we were saved, we were somewhat loose and sloppy, We thought whatever we wanted, We said whatever we wanted in a loose way. When we come to receiving the Passover our being has to be girded up. This is to be in preparation for be ready to march our like a soldier in the army. By girding ourselves we make ourselves ready to fight the spiritual warfare of leaving Satan's kingdom.

It is easy to receive Jesus Christ as the Redeemer. But we should do so with the realization that we follow Jesus out of the fallen kingdom of darkness. We are in a fight merely because we now stand with Jesus Christ. We are girded and sober realizing that we are making an exodus out of the kingdom of darkness to God. And we eat the lamb as an army ready to move.

The children of Israel were also told to have shoes on their feet. This indicates that they were to prepare themselves for a journey. An army has to have soldiers with proper shoes. We may consider that before taking in Christ we were unsaved and our feet were bear. Before we were saved, our feet were not shod. But after upon taking in Christ we must fight the battle for the Lord, we need the right kind of shoes on our feet. The world will not want to let the redeemed ones go so easily. It will be a battle and a march out with Christ. The feet need to be shod and ready for the journey.


Furthermore, in 12:11 the children of Israel were told to eat the Passover with their staff in hand. The staff in the hand signifies the eaters are ready for the journey. They were not expecting to linger. They were to have the staff in their hand prepared to depart. This is a picture of taking in Christ in sober preparation that a change is coming. Your old life and old acquaintances will be affected. You are moving out of the old life with the army of the saved ones.

There awaits the redeemed a long journey. In ancient times a long journey required one to have a staff. In this symbolism the girdle, the shoes, and the staff all indicate the journey, the march out for the redeemed. This journey was not to be a journey of peace, but a journey of war, for, in a sense, they had to fight their way out of Egypt.

And the Christian is with the army of redeemed fighting their way out of the Satan corrupted world by eating Jesus.

Finally, Exodus 12:11 says the Hebrews were to eat the Passover in haste. This was a matter of them having flee from the land of Egypt that night.

The picture is that we are being saved by Jesus in the way of fleeing from the enemy territory in a spiritual sense, a moral sense too. The symbolism of the instructions suggest sinners are required to eat God's Passover lamb hastily.


Soldiers are often required to eat their meals quickly. Those who have been in the army realize that soldiers are trained to eat in this way. Because a battle lies ahead of us, we must eat the Passover lamb in haste.


Latter we see that those who were lagging behind were the first to be attacked by the enemy from the rear. Those who ate fast are probably those who are at the front of the army.

Take in Christ as a ready army about to march, shoes on feet, staff in hand, girded and ready for the journey. We follow the Lord Jesus out of the fallen Satanified system to draw close to the kingdom of God.