Speaking of the Passover lamb, 12:6 says, “The whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.” Do you know who killed the Lord Jesus? He was killed by the congregation of God’s people. This means that we all had a part in killing Him.
Years ago, I read an article describing how the children of Israel slew the lamb during the Passover. According to this article, the lamb was put on a cross. The children of Israel took two wooden bars and formed a cross. They tied two legs of the lamb at the foot of the cross and fastened the other outstretched legs to the crossbar. Then they slew the lamb so that all its blood was shed, for they needed all of the blood to sprinkle on their door frames. We all know that the Roman Empire used the death penalty of the cross to crucify criminals, but the children of Israel used this method long before the time of the Roman Empire to slay the lamb at their Passover. The way the lamb was killed affords a picture of Christ’s crucifixion. Therefore, the type of the Passover foreshadowed both the date and the way Christ would be put to death for our redemption.
Exodus 12:7 says, “And they shall take of the blood, and put it on the two side posts and on the upper doorpost of the houses, wherein they shall eat it” (Heb.). The blood put on the lintel and the doorposts was for redemption. This blood typifies the redeeming blood of Christ (Matt. 26:28; John 19:34; 1 Pet. 1:18-19). As the children of Israel applied the Passover lamb, they were in houses that had been sprinkled with the blood of the lamb. This indicates that redemption is based on union. The blood of Christ cannot redeem us unless we are in union with Christ. Only by being in Christ can we be redeemed with the blood of Christ. If we are outside of Christ, His blood cannot redeem us. But once we are in Christ as the house, we are redeemed by the blood that has been sprinkled upon the lintel and doorposts of the house. Because redemption is based on union, we must be in union with Christ, identified with Christ. Then, because we are one with Him, we can be redeemed by His blood.
The ark built by Noah also illustrates this matter of union. Noah and his family entered into the ark. In this way they were in union with the ark, identified with the ark. Through this union, this identification, they were saved and redeemed by the ark. In the same principle, in order to be redeemed by the blood of the Passover lamb, the children of Israel had to be in the house that had been sprinkled with the blood. Furthermore, any who would apply the redemption of Christ must be in union with Him.
The flesh of the Passover lamb was to be eaten for life supply (12:8-10). The same is true of the Lord Jesus as the fulfillment of the type. Each of the Gospels speaks of the blood of Christ. The Gospel of John, however, goes on to say that the flesh of Christ is edible. In John 6:53 the Lord Jesus says that we must eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and in verse 55 He declares, “My flesh is true food.” Flesh here signifies the life of Christ. The life of Christ is edible; it is our life supply. This is mentioned in the Gospel of John because this Gospel, in contrast to the others, is focused on life. Therefore, this Gospel reveals that the blood of Christ redeems and that the life of Christ supplies. Hallelujah, we have the blood of the Lamb for redemption and the flesh of the Lamb for the supply of life!
In 12:8 the children of Israel were given the proper way to eat the flesh of the Passover lamb: roasted with fire. Fire here signifies God’s holy wrath exercised in judgment. When Christ was on the cross, the holy fire of God judged Him and consumed Him. Psalm 22:14 and 15 say, “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.” Then He cried, “I thirst” (John 19:28), because He was being burned by the holy fire of God’s judgment.
In 12:9 the children of Israel were charged not to eat of the lamb raw. Today those who do not believe in Christ’s redemption attempt to eat Him “raw.” This means that they regard Christ as a model or example of human living for them to imitate. In effect, to do this is to eat the Passover lamb raw.
Furthermore, the children of Israel were not to eat the lamb boiled with water (12:9). 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 today do not believe that Christ died as the Redeemer. According to their concept, He was persecuted by man and died as a martyr, having sacrificed Himself for His teachings. To apply Christ’s death in this way is to eat the lamb boiled with water. 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.
Today people try to use three ways to take Christ. As fundamental Christians, we 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. As our Redeemer, He was judged for us. This is to take Christ roasted with fire. This is the proper way ordained by God. A second way, advocated by modernists, is to take Christ “raw.” This is to take Christ as an example and to imitate the way He behaved. The third way is to take Christ “boiled.” This is to regard Christ’s death on the cross as persecution and martyrdom, not as death for our redemption. How do you take Christ—roasted, raw, or boiled? If you believe that Christ died on the cross as a martyr because of man’s persecution, then you eat the Passover lamb by boiling it in water. However, if you believe that He died as our Redeemer, being roasted by the holy fire of God, then you eat Him as the Passover lamb roasted in fire.
The children of Israel were to eat the lamb with its head, legs, and inwards (12:9, Heb.). The head signifies wisdom, the legs signify activity and move, and the inwards signify the various inward parts of Christ’s being. To eat the Passover lamb with the head, legs, and inwards is to take Christ as a whole, in His entirety. As we eat Him, we take His wisdom, activities, move, and inward parts.
According to 12:8, the children of Israel were to eat the flesh of the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. To eat with unleavened bread means to eliminate all sinful things. When we enjoy Christ as our Passover, we must purge away everything sinful. At the same time, we need to eat bitter herbs. This means that we need to regret and repent, to experience a bitter taste regarding sinful things. When we believed in the Lord Jesus, many of us received Him as our life supply and also gave up everything sinful. At the same time, we experienced regret and repentance. This indicates that we ate Christ with bitter herbs.
We should not take the lamb without the unleavened bread and the bitter herbs. Whenever you receive Christ as your supply, you receive a life without sin, without leaven, that gives you a bitter feeling when you sin, that repents when you make a mistake. This life is sensitive to sin, to any kind of wrongdoing, to anything of the self. To keep yourself unleavened, you have to repent.
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.” Nothing of the Passover lamb was to be left until morning. This indicates that we are to receive Christ in a full way, not partially. Do not allow anything of Christ to be left over. Rather, take Him in full.
Exodus 12:46 says that the children of Israel were not to break any of the bones of the Passover lamb. When Christ was crucified as our Passover lamb, His legs were not broken (John 19:33, 36). The fact that Christ’s legs were not broken signifies that in Christ, the Passover lamb, there is something unbreakable and indestructible. This unbreakable and indestructible element is His eternal life. The Roman soldiers and Jewish people could come together to put Christ on the cross, but they could not break His eternal life.
We can prove from the Scriptures that the bone signifies life. According to Genesis 2:21, the Lord took a bone, a rib, out of Adam and built it into a woman. The woman, Eve, was produced from a bone taken out of Adam. Hence, a bone signifies life that imparts life. The bone taken out of Adam imparted Adam’s life into Eve. In the same principle, Christ’s unbroken bone signifies His unbreakable and indestructible eternal life that imparts His life into us. In Christ as our Passover lamb there is such an unbreakable and indestructible life that can impart life into us.