Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down. Exodus 12:21-23

For the Jews, Passover displays God’s power to save His people from oppression.  Jews look to Passover to remind them that God can rescue them from any enemy. It is a celebration God told them to remember yearly. During the time of Jesus, we see him in Jerusalem for the Passover festival.

For a Christian, Passover symbolizes Christ’s death on the cross for our sins. Exodus 12 describes the steps needed to guarantee that the tenth and final plague of the firstborn would pass over your house. Each of those steps points to Christ.

• The animal that was sacrificed had to be an unblemished (without defect) male. Jesus was unblemished by sin.
• The animal had to be killed in such a way that it’s blood spilled. Jesus was pierced by nails and a spear and bled on the cross.
• The blood had to be applied to the doorframes using a cluster of hyssop. Jesus, on the cross, was offered wine to ease the pain on a hyssop branch.
• The blood had to be applied to the doorframes of the house. Jesus’ sacrifice needs to be applied to our lives.
• By applying the sacrificial blood to the homes, death passed over the family. By accepting the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins, we are forgiven and death will pass over when we die, allowing us to live eternally in relationship with God.
• When the Passover blood was applied, the entire sacrifice needed to be eaten. Jesus at the communion saw the bread as symbolic of his body. “Take and eat” he commanded. We must consume the sacrifice wholly and completely.

The blood was applied to the two side doorposts and to the top of the frame. Drawing lines from the side door frame to side door frame and from the top of the door to the bottom where the blood dripped, you can make a cross.

John the Baptist saw Jesus and cried, “The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” While the Passover sacrifice saved only one small group of people, Jesus’ sacrifice is salvation for everyone for all time.

All you have to do is apply it to your life.