The Blood on the Door: Exodus and the Lamb You Need
"Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old...and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it." — Exodus 12:5–7 (ESV)
I remember the first time I truly understood that I could not be good enough.
Though I had known that was true theologically, it was still theoretical. I thought that as a believer, I needed to prove to God my loyalty, that he picked the right girl for his family. I would set up plans for more consistent prayer, stretch myself to serve more sacrificially, counsel myself to focus on Christ more when I struggled. Like the Galatians, I was saved by faith but I was then trying to supplement it with my own efforts.
But the book of Exodus will not let us do that.
As we look for Christ in the Old Testament, it’s not too hard to make the connection between Christ and the liberation from slavery he provides, but it is less comfortable to think of the price he had to pay in order to do that. Before they set out, there was one last plague, the plague of every firstborn. Each household needed to slaughter a sacrificial lamb and apply its blood on their doorposts.
It didn’t seem like much, but at the same time, it was the difference between life and death. Whether they were Egyptian or Hebrew, this plague was impartial. It fell on the poorest and the strongest equally. What stands between the family inside and death outside is only one thing: the lamb’s blood.
Either the lamb dies for your sins, or you must die for them. There is no third option.
If you have wondered if Jesus truly is the only way to heaven, Exodus tells us “yes.” Just as the lamb’s blood alone was the sign of faith God was looking for, Christ’s blood alone applied to our account is what saves us.
He is not a supplement to my good works, nor can I supplement His with mine. My efforts will never be good enough; His efforts are completely sufficient—even without my help.
When the head of the household applied the blood on the door, it was an act of faith. It is a response of trust in the Lord that if they obeyed and slaughtered one who was weak and innocent and then sheltered under that blood, they would be protected from death.
Nancy Guthrie traces this lamb across the whole of Scripture, connecting the dots with ever-increasing clarity and specificity:
"We trace this story of the lamb to that day when Abraham was called to make an offering of his son who was spared when God provided a lamb to be sacrificed instead. In this case, God provided one lamb as a substitute for one person, Abraham's son Isaac. Here in Exodus we see that God made provision for one lamb to be sacrificed for one household. Later we'll read of God's instructions for the Day of Atonement, in which one lamb will be sacrificed for the sins of the whole nation of Israel.
“But all these lambs were just preparing God's people to recognize God's provision in Mary's little lamb...Jesus was God's provision of one lamb to die, not for one person or one family or one nation, but for one world."
The lamb in Exodus points ahead to the one Lamb we will ever need: Jesus Himself.
Though sacrificing a lamb is gory and doesn’t make for good television, it is the prerequisite to the amazing escape from slavery. In fact, this act of faith is so important that God instructed the new nation to celebrate it annually. He reset their entire calendar around it. This was where the year began, with the blood, with their deliverance. Their redemption was the starting point of their whole lives.
Likewise, this is what we need to order our lives around as well. When Jesus celebrated that first communion meal, He was reminding them that it is the bread and the cup, His body and His blood, that institutes the new covenant with us. It is a price he alone can pay and he willingly does so. Those who take shelter under that blood will be saved. It is not something I earn. It is not something I add to.
I need to begin each new day remembering His mercy. He has already delivered me. I am covered by the blood of Christ. The blood of this Lamb shed for me and for you is the only adequate protection we have from death.
What that means for me is true freedom from the slavery of sin. Though I once was dead in sin, His Spirit breathes new life into my spirit. Through the sacrifice of Christ, the last Adam, I am made new. This new life is expressed in my hard work out of love for Him, not as a means to my salvation. I am safe, even if I don’t perform or complete what I hoped to do. This doesn’t mean I don’t work hard during the day, but it is not in order to earn his favor.
Our last post showed us a God who moves toward sinners and covers their shame at cost to Himself. Exodus shows us what that cost looked like — and that it was sufficient. Finally. Completely. Enough.
Are you covered by the blood of the Lamb?
