A bunch of hyssop was used to put the blood of the lamb on the lintel and the doorposts. First Kings 4:33 says that, in his wisdom, Solomon “spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall.” Hyssop was among the smallest of the plants. According to the revelation in the New Testament, the thing that is the smallest in quantity is our faith (Matt. 17:20). Hence, hyssop signifies faith. God does not require that our faith be like a cedar tree, for none of us could meet such a requirement. God requires that we have just a little faith. Even if our faith is very small, we still can apply the Passover lamb. If a sinner prays, “Lord Jesus, thank You for dying for me,” he will be saved. Even such a small amount of faith will save him. Actually, one can be saved just by saying, “Lord, thank You.” This is faith that is like hyssop that springs out of the wall. It is by such little faith that the blood of Christ is applied.
According to 12:22, the blood of the Passover lamb was in a basin, not a large vessel. Many can testify that in their experience of conversion the redeeming blood of Christ was made available to them in a way that was small and easy to apply. It was not necessary to have great faith. Even a very small amount of faith was sufficient for them to be saved. This is the significance of using a bunch of hyssop to apply the blood of the Passover lamb. Both the basin and the hyssop were small and could be handled easily by anyone. How easy it is to apply Christ!
Any unsaved person who is reading this chapter does not need to wait for something great to happen. As he is reading, he can say, “Lord, I thank You.” Even by the exercise of such a small amount of hyssop, the blood will be applied to him, and the entire Passover will be his. The blood of the Passover lamb is applied not by great faith, but by a small amount of faith. Praise the Lord that even a little faith is sufficient! By applying the blood in faith, we have an entrance into Christ, and we are immediately ushered into Him as the house, where the whole Passover becomes ours.
The children of Israel were required to stay in the house whose door had been touched with the blood; they were not to go out of it until the morning (12:22). To understand the significance of this we need to see that the basic concept in the Bible with respect to redemption is identification or union. Without identification there can be no substitution, which is necessary for redemption. On the cross Christ died as our substitute. However, His being our substitute requires us to be identified with Him.
In the Old Testament, the ark of Noah as a type illustrates this matter of identification. In order to be saved from the waters of judgment, Noah and his family had to be in the ark. To be in the ark was to be identified with the ark, to be one with the ark. The destiny of the ark was automatically the destiny of everyone in the ark. Whatever happened to the ark became the experience of the people who were one with the ark. After the door of the ark was closed, others may have held onto the ark in desperation. But they were not one with the ark or identified with it. The only way to be one with Christ is to enter into Him. In the words of 1 Corinthians 1:30, it is of God that we are in Christ Jesus. God has put us into Christ. As the eight persons were in the ark of Noah, so we, the redeemed ones, are in Christ Jesus.
Our entrance into Christ is through the door to which the blood has been applied. When we use hyssop to put the blood on the door, we are able to enter into Christ. After getting into Christ, we need to remain in Him. In John 15 the Lord Jesus says, “Abide in Me.” To abide in Christ is to remain in Him, that is, to maintain our identification, our union, with Him.
The effect of some of the teachings in Christianity is to cause believers to be separate from Christ and to lose their identification with Him. Any teaching that causes us to lose our union with Christ can avail nothing. Anything apart from Christ is human effort or strife. There is no need for us to struggle or strive. We simply need to enter into the house through the blood-sprinkled gate. Once we are in the house, we are one with the house and identified with it.
Home | First | Prev | Next