After Abraham died, his children’s children became known as Israelites. Over time, about 500 years later, they grew into a large group of people. But they became slaves in Egypt and were treated badly.
The exodus
God chose Moses to lead the Israelites. God told Moses to go to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and ask him to let the Israelites go free. But Pharaoh refused. So God sent nine plagues to punish Egypt, but Pharaoh still said no. Then God warned that He would send a 10th and final plague — one that would be deadly. Click here to read the full account of the 10th Plague in the Bible.
God said that every firstborn son in Egypt would die that night unless a special sign was shown. Each family had to kill a lamb and paint its blood on the door frame. If they did this, the Angel of Death would pass over their house and not harm anyone inside. But if they didn’t, their firstborn son would die. This night became a national tragedy in Egypt. But for those who obeyed God and used the lamb’s blood, their homes were safe. This is why the day was called Passover — because the Angel of Death passed over the homes that had blood on the doors.
Passover – A Sign for who?
Many people think the blood on the doors was only for the Angel of Death to see. But the Bible says something interesting.
The LORD said to Moses … ” … I am the LORD. The blood [of the Passover lamb] will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.
exodus 12:13
This shows the blood was not just a sign for God. It was also a sign for the people — for them to remember and trust God’s promise.
After this happened, God told the people:
Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for generations to come. When you enter the land … observe this ceremony… It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD’
exodus 12:27
The Remarkable Passover Calendar
This 10th plague started the Jewish calendar. God said:
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year…
exodus 12:1
So from that time, the Israelites began their year with the Passover. For over 3500 years, Jewish people have remembered Passover every year to thank God for saving them.
Because the Jewish calendar is different from the one used in the Western world, the date of Passover changes each year on our modern calendar.
Jesus and Passover
Even today, Jewish families celebrate Passover to remember how God saved them 3500 years ago.
Now look at what happened to Jesus:
Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.
John 18:28
This shows that Jesus was arrested and later crucified on the exact day of Passover. On that same day, Jewish people were sacrificing lambs, just like they had done for centuries.
Remember from Abraham’s sacrifice, John the Baptist had called Jesus:
The next day John (i.e. John the Baptist) saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world… ’”.
John 1:29
So Jesus — the Lamb of God — died on the same day that lambs were being killed to remember the first Passover. That’s why Easter, which remembers Jesus’ death and resurrection, is around the same time as Passover. They are connected, because Jesus died on Passover.
Signs, Signs, Everywhere are Signs
Think again about what God said: the blood was a “sign for you.”
Signs help us think about something important. For example:
- A skull sign warns us of danger or poison.
- The golden arches make us think of McDonald’s.
- The check mark on a tennis player’s headband reminds us of Nike.
These signs don’t matter by themselves — they point us to something else.
God made the blood a sign for us to understand something greater. The timing is amazing: Jesus, called the Lamb of God, died on Passover — the very same day lambs were being killed in memory of God’s rescue. This sign points directly to Jesus’ sacrifice.
Two Signs – Pointing to Location and Date
This idea works like a map in our mind.
- Abraham almost sacrificed his son Isaac on Mount Moriah, and a ram died instead. That same mountain later became Jerusalem, where Jesus died. So this event pointed to the place of Jesus’ death.
- The first Passover happened on a certain day — and Jesus died on that same date in the Jewish calendar. So this event pointed to the time of Jesus’ death.
Two events from long ago both pointed to Jesus in clear and powerful ways — one showing the place, and the other showing the time. Both involved the sacrifice of a lamb to save others from death. Jesus is the center of a Divine Plan.
I can’t think of anyone else in history whose death was shown ahead of time in such specific and amazing ways. Can you?
These stories — Abraham’s sacrifice and the first Passover — help us see that Jesus is part of God’s special plan.
But why are these signs so important? Why did God use something as serious as the death of lambs and the shedding of blood? The answer comes when we learn about the Ten Commandments. They show us how serious our problem with sin is, and how much we need God’s help.