The Passover is a type of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 5:7 Paul says that “our Passover, Christ, has been sacrificed.” Here Paul does not say that Christ is our lamb; he says that Christ is our Passover. Christ is not only the Passover lamb, but also every aspect of the Passover. The lamb, the unleavened bread, and the bitter herbs are all related to Christ. In principle, therefore, Christ is not only the lamb of the Passover, but the very Passover itself.
The word Passover means that the judgment of God passes over us. In Exodus 12:13 God says, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” According to Exodus 12, God passed over the children of Israel because the blood of the Passover lamb had been sprinkled on the lintel and the doorposts of their houses. The children of Israel had been commanded to eat the flesh of the lamb in their houses. This indicates that the house was to be their covering under which and in which they could eat the flesh of the Passover lamb. The house that covered them was to have blood sprinkled on the lintel and the doorposts. When God saw the blood, He passed over them. Hence, this passing over was due to the sprinkled blood.
In 1 Corinthians 5 Paul shows us that the Passover is related not only to the blood, but to Christ Himself. Are we today under the blood, or are we in Christ? Strictly speaking, to say that we are under the blood is not scriptural. This phrase is not found in the New Testament. But the New Testament says repeatedly that we are in Christ. According to 1 Corinthians 1:30, it is of God that we are in Christ. Because we are in Christ, He Himself becomes our covering. This means that before Christ can be our Passover, He must first be our covering. Our covering today is not the blood; it is Christ. In Exodus 12 the Passover was based on the blood. But today our Passover is based on Christ. This is the reason Paul could say that Christ is our Passover.
The children of Israel were commanded to take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house. Therefore, the Passover lamb was not for every individual but for every house. Furthermore, the lamb had to be without blemish, a male of the first year, taken either out from the sheep or from the goats (Exo. 12:3, 5). To be of the first year is to be fresh and not to be used for any other purpose. The lamb could be either of the sheep or of the goats. This indicates that when Christ was on the cross, He was both a sheep and a goat. In Himself Christ was altogether good. However, as our substitute, He was made sin on our behalf (2 Cor. 5:21).
The Passover lamb had to be examined for four days (Exo. 12:3, 6). On the fourteenth day of the first month, the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel was to kill the lamb in the evening and take of the blood and put it on the two side posts and on the upper doorpost of the house. The blood put on the lintel and the doorposts (Exo. 12:6, 7) was a sign for redemption, so that God could pass over when He saw this blood. The children of Israel ate the flesh of the lamb, which was roasted with fire (Exo. 12:8-10), in the house that had been sprinkled with the blood. This is for the life supply. To eat the lamb with its head, legs, and inwards signifies that we need to take Christ as a whole, in His entirety, and take His wisdom, activities, move, and inward parts. The flesh of the lamb was to be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. This signifies that when we enjoy Christ as our Passover, we must purge away everything sinful, and we also need to regret and repent regarding the sinful things. Nothing of the lamb was to be left until morning (Exo. 12:10), and not one of its bones was to be broken (Exo. 12:46).
While they were taking the Passover lamb, the Israelites should eat it with their loins girded, shoes on their feet, and staff in their hand; and they should eat it in haste (Exo. 12:17). The result of all these is the producing of God’s army. “And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the Lord did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies” (Exo. 12:51). God’s full redemption—the Passover—eventually produces an army to fight for God’s interest.