June 30, 2025 - Exodus 12:11 - "The LORD'S Passover"

Exodus 12:11

"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 the Lord's passover."

This pointed and solemn verse marks the moment when God was about to deliver His chosen people from the bondage of Egypt—a moment not only of historical significance, but one rich in spiritual meaning and Gospel typology. The instructions were clear: the lamb must be eaten in haste, with full readiness to depart. Why? Because the LORD Himself was passing through the land in judgment, and only those sheltered beneath the blood of the lamb would be spared.

Here we behold a vivid picture of God’s saving grace in Christ. Every detail—the girded loins, the blood-smeared doorposts, the eaten lamb—foreshadows the person and work of the LORD Jesus, the true and greater Passover Lamb. This was not man’s invention, nor Moses’ command, but “the LORD’s passover” (Exodus 12:11). He ordained it, He provided the Lamb, and He delivered the people. In every part, Christ is set forth as the One in Whom God’s wrath is satisfied and from Whom redemption flows.

As we reflect on this passage, we do so not merely to recall a distant event, but to behold Christ in the Scriptures—our Substitute, our Redeemer, our Deliverer. His blood speaks peace. His death obtained eternal redemption. His voice still calls sinners to flee from the wrath to come.

The command to eat in haste was not arbitrary. It signified the urgency of divine deliverance and the immediacy of God’s intervention. The people were to be ready—“your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand” (Exodus 12:11). The LORD would pass through the land in judgment, yet for His people, there was a covering: a lamb slain, its blood applied, and its flesh consumed.

In this one verse, the Gospel of God’s saving grace is Christ encapsulated in type and promise. This was not Israel’s Passover, nor man’s religious rite—it was “the LORD’s Passover.” It was His provision, His initiative, and His means of deliverance for a people enslaved and powerless. Israel did not deliver itself. They were not spared by foresight, merit, or obedience, but by the blood of a substitute—the lamb appointed and provided by God.

Historically, this moment inaugurated the exodus. Prophetically, it pointed to Christ: “For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7). As the lamb was without blemish (Exodus 12:5), so Christ was “a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19). As the lamb’s blood turned away wrath, so the blood of Christ redeems from sin and removes from judgment. “And when I see the blood, I will pass over you” (Exodus 12:13). In Christ crucified, God has passed over the sins of His elect—not by ignoring them, but by judging them in the body of His Son.

And what of the urgency? That, too, is fulfilled in the LORD Jesus. The believer is called to flee from the Egypt of this world, from the bondage of sin and self-righteousness, not trusting in personal reformation, but resting wholly in Christ’s redeeming work. We feed on Him in haste—not carelessly, but earnestly and by faith—for judgment draws near, and only Christ has satisfied divine justice. The blood was shed and applied to the doorposts of the heart, and the lamb was eaten. There is no neutrality. Salvation is not a negotiation, but a divine act of grace to be received with believing haste. This is salvation by God’s sovereign grace alone: He provided the Lamb, appointed the time, executed judgment, and passed over His people—all in perfect righteousness and mercy. At Calvary, this glorious type was fulfilled. The true Lamb was slain, the blood was shed, wrath was turned away, and God's people were delivered—not by their works or will, but by the effectual power of sovereign grace in Christ.

Thus, we behold more than a memorial of Israel’s deliverance—we behold Christ, our Passover, sacrificed for us. The urgency, readiness, and posture of the Israelites reflect the heart of every believer who feeds upon Christ by faith. With loins girded in truth, feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, and the staff of God’s promises in hand, we press forward as pilgrims—not lingering in a condemned world, but hastening to that better country, a heavenly one, “whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10,16).

The LORD’s Passover is not merely an escape from judgment, but a setting apart unto Himself—a people redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and brought out to worship and serve Him in the liberty of grace. In Christ, we see the fulfillment of it all. Let us then eat in haste—not with indifference, but with faith and urgency, trusting wholly in the finished work of our Redeemer, the LORD Jesus Christ. For we are strangers and pilgrims here, and our redemption draweth nigh (Hebrews 11:13-16).