In Exodus, first there are the types that show us the statuses of Christ as God’s Apostle and Prophet (Exo. 3:10; 4:12). Then, there are different types to show us that Christ is God’s full salvation and its rich supply. The first type in this category is the Passover. The Passover is a type of Christ as the believers’ redemption and supply. Those who enjoy Christ as their redemption and supply should be delivered and separated from the world. This is typified by the exodus of the children of Israel.
The Passover portrayed in Exodus 12 is a clear, suitable, and even all-inclusive type of the redemption of Christ. The word Passover means that the judgment of God passes over us. First Corinthians 5:7 says, “Our Passover, Christ,...has been sacrificed.” In the Passover, Christ is not only the lamb of the Passover but also the Passover itself. Hence, the Passover adequately typifies Christ as the believers’ redemption. Furthermore, the flesh of the Passover lamb for the supply of the children of Israel typifies Christ as the believers’ supply.
The lamb as the Passover sacrifice was without blemish, a male of the first year (Exo. 12:5a). To be without blemish is to be perfect. This signifies that Christ is perfect, without fault (John 8:46). To be of the first year is to be fresh and not used for any other purpose. In the sight of God, when the Lord Jesus was crucified, He was of the first year. He was fresh, never having been used for another purpose. The Passover lamb could be taken either from the sheep or from the goats (Exo. 12:5b). According to Matthew 25, sheep represent those who are good, and goats, those who are evil. When the Lord Jesus was crucified, He was both a sheep and a goat. On the one hand, in Himself Christ was altogether good; on the other hand, as the One who knew no sin He was made sin on our behalf (2 Cor. 5:21) to be our Substitute. The Passover lamb was examined for four days and killed by the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel on the fourteenth day of the first month (Exo. 12:2-3, 6). Likewise, Christ was examined by the Jewish priests and the Roman governor, and He was proved to be faultless, without blemish (John 18:38b; 19:4, 6). However, He was delivered for crucifixion in the midst of the unjust crying of the crowds (Matt. 27:20, 22-23). Hence, the lamb without blemish as the Passover sacrifice which shed its blood by being killed typifies that the sinless Christ died and shed His blood for us.
After the Passover lamb was killed, every household had to take of the blood and put it on the two side posts and on the upper doorpost of the houses. While Jehovah God was smiting all the firstborn of the land of Egypt, when He saw the blood on the door, He passed over that house (Exo. 12:7, 13, 23). The blood of the Passover lamb typifies the redeeming blood of Christ. First Peter 1:19 shows us that we were redeemed “with precious blood, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot, the blood of Christ.” The blood of the lamb was put on the door of the house in which the lamb was eaten for the deliverance of the children of Israel. This typifies that Christ’s blood was put before God for the believers’ redemption (Matt. 26:28).