When I see the blood I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
Exodus 12:13.
The account of the Passover lamb in Exodus 12 has many parallels to the gospel of the grace of God.
The initial situation. God had announced impending punishment. He intended to kill all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. Similarly God’s judgment hangs over the whole world today. He must punish sinners eternally. His Word confirms the threat.
The means of salvation. God gave the Israelites one possibility of escaping His judgment. They were to kill a lamb and with its blood paint the doorposts and the lintel. He would then spare them. Today, too, there is a Saviour standing between divine judgment and the sinner: Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. He sacrificed His life on the cross, so that “whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Saving faith. The Israelites had to believe what God had promised and carry out all His instructions to be preserved from judgment. This principle applies equally today. Only those who acknowledge their guilt before God and lay hold of the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus personally will be saved.
Security. On the night when judgment swept over Egypt the Israelites in their houses did not see the blood on the frames of their doors. But God saw it and spared them. Similarly, the security of our salvation does not lie in ourselves, but in fact that God has accepted the death of His Son as the basis of our salvation.