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Exodus 12 & John 1 · The Old and New Testament World
To understand why John the Baptist pointed at Jesus and said "Behold the Lamb of God," you have to go back to a night in Egypt, a marked door, and a lamb without a blemish. Every detail of that first Passover was pointing forward to a cross.
Before You Read
Egypt, on the night God brought Israel out of slavery, the first Passover (Exodus 12).
A male without blemish, its blood struck on the doorposts, its body roasted and eaten, not a bone broken.
"When I see the blood, I will pass over you" (Exodus 12:13). The blood on the door meant life.
Eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, dressed and ready to leave that very night.
Passover became a yearly memorial (Leviticus 23:5), still kept in Jesus' day at the Temple.
"Behold the Lamb of God" (John 1:29). Christ our Passover, sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7).
Step Into the Moment
It was nearly dark, and the father stood at his own doorway with a bunch of hyssop in his hand. He dipped it in the basin of blood at his feet and struck the top of the doorframe, then the post on each side, until the entrance to his home was marked in red. Inside, the lamb was roasting; his family stood around the table already dressed for a journey, sandals on, staff in hand, eating quickly. Out in the Egyptian night, something was coming. He did not fully understand it. But God had said the blood would be enough, so he had put it on the door, and now he waited, trusting, behind it.
Before the sun rose, a cry would go up across Egypt like nothing history had heard. But in every house marked with blood, there was peace. That night is the beginning of the whole story of redemption, and every piece of it was a picture of Jesus.
What Happened
Israel had been enslaved in Egypt for generations. When God moved to free them, He sent nine plagues, and Pharaoh still would not let them go. The tenth would be the death of every firstborn. But God made a way of escape, and He gave it in careful detail (Exodus 12).
Each household was to take a lamb, "without blemish, a male of the first year" (Exodus 12:5), and kill it at evening. Then came the heart of it:
"And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses... 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."Exodus 12:7, 13 KJV
It was not the goodness of the family that saved them. It was not even the death of the lamb by itself. It was the blood, applied to the door, that turned death away. Inside those homes they ate the lamb roasted, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, "with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand" (Exodus 12:11), ready to walk out of slavery the moment God opened the way.
The Pattern
The instructions were exact, and centuries later each one came true in Jesus. This is not reading Christ into the text; the New Testament makes these connections itself.
| The Command in Egypt | Fulfilled in Jesus |
|---|---|
| A lamb "without blemish" (Exodus 12:5) | "a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:19) |
| The blood applied to the door saved the house (Exodus 12:13) | We are redeemed by "the precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18–19) |
| "Neither shall ye break a bone thereof" (Exodus 12:46) | They broke no bone of Jesus: "A bone of him shall not be broken" (John 19:36) |
| Eaten with unleavened bread, leaven put away (Exodus 12:8) | "Purge out the old leaven... Christ our passover" (1 Corinthians 5:7–8) |
| Eaten ready to leave Egypt that night (Exodus 12:11) | Redeemed to walk out of the bondage of sin |
Cultural Background
By the time of Jesus, Passover was the great pilgrimage feast of the year. Families streamed into Jerusalem by the many thousands, and lambs were brought to the Temple to be killed, so many that it is hard to picture. The city filled; the smell of roasting lamb rose from every house; and everyone remembered the night God had brought their fathers out of Egypt.
It was at this feast that Jesus gathered His disciples for a Passover meal. "With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer" (Luke 22:15), He told them. There He took the bread and the cup, and gave them a new meaning, His own body and blood. And then He went out to become the Lamb Himself.
Where It Lands
When John the Baptist first saw Jesus, he did not call Him a teacher or a king. He reached for the oldest picture his people had:
"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."John 1:29 KJV
Every Israelite listening knew what a lamb was for. And it all came true at the cross. In John's account, Jesus is condemned at the very hour the Passover lambs were being prepared. When the soldiers came to break the legs of the crucified to hasten death, they found Jesus already dead and broke none of His bones, and John saw it for what it was:
"For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken."John 19:36 KJV
Paul says it plainly: "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7). The lamb in Egypt was always a shadow. Jesus is the substance.
Do not miss who the Lamb is. When Abraham climbed the mountain, he told his son, "God will provide himself a lamb" (Genesis 22:8), and He did. The Lamb of God is not someone other than God; it is God, come in flesh, providing Himself as the sacrifice. And here is the searching part: in Egypt it was not enough that the lamb died. The blood had to be put on the door. A family could believe the lamb was slain and still perish, if the blood was not applied to their own house. So it is with us. Christ has died, the Lamb is slain, but His blood must be applied to your life, received and obeyed, not merely admired from a distance.
For You
The families in Egypt were not saved because they understood the plan, or admired the lamb, or felt grateful. They were saved because the blood was on the door. God said, "when I see the blood, I will pass over you." The question that night was terribly simple: is it applied, or not?
It is the same question now. Jesus, the true Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. His blood is enough to turn away every judgment we deserve. But it must be brought home, applied to your life through faith and obedience to the gospel. Do not stand outside admiring the Lamb. Get under the blood.
Carry It With You
John 1:29 KJV
"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
For the Scriptural Notes
Scripture is quoted from the KJV. Every connection between the Passover and the cross is one the New Testament makes itself.
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