† The Passover was the beginning of Israel's deliverance from Egypt. God instructed each household to sacrifice a lamb without blemish and apply its blood to the doorposts. When the Lord passed through Egypt, He'd see the blood and spare that house from destruction. This event foreshadowed the greater deliverance through Christ, the true Passover Lamb.

Exodus 12:13
The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live, and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

† The blood was a covenant sign pointing to redemption. Israel was saved from judgment not by their own righteousness but by the blood of the lamb. Likewise, Christ's sacrifice delivers us from the death of the old covenant world and brings us into His eternal kingdom.

† The judgment that struck Egypt's firstborn was a type of what later came upon Jerusalem in AD 70. Just as the destroyer passed through Egypt, bringing death to those without the blood, so divine judgment came upon that generation of Israel who rejected the true Lamb. Those covered by Christ's blood were spared, passing safely from death into life, as the church was delivered from the fall of the old covenant system.

Matthew 22:7
But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.

† The destroyer in Egypt foreshadowed the Roman armies sent by God in judgment against Jerusalem. Just as Egypt faced devastation for rejecting God's command, so Jerusalem faced destruction for rejecting His Son. In both events, God's wrath passed over the faithful who trusted in the blood of the Lamb.

Isaiah 53:7
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.

John 1:29
The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

† Isaiah saw the coming of the true Lamb centuries before Christ appeared. John the Baptist then identified Jesus as that very Lamb, confirming that the Passover was prophetic of Him.

1 Corinthians 5:7-8
Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let's celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

† Paul reminds the Corinthian church that the old leaven represented sin, hypocrisy, and the old covenant system. Since Christ was the true Passover Lamb, they were to live as a new people, cleansed and pure before God. The celebration was no longer a shadow but a reality fulfilled in Christ.

Luke 22:15-20
And He said to them, I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I shall not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, Take this and share it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes. And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is My body, which is being given for you; do this in remembrance of Me. And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, This cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant in My blood.

† At the Last Supper, Jesus transformed the meaning of Passover. He became the Lamb whose blood established the new covenant. The old covenant meal symbolized deliverance from Egypt, but the new covenant meal represented deliverance from sin and death. Jesus said He wouldn't eat it again until it was fulfilled in the kingdom, which was realized at His coming in judgment on Jerusalem in AD 70, when the old covenant system fully ended.

† The destruction of Jerusalem marked the final passing over from shadow to substance. The sacrifices and temple worship ceased, because the true Lamb had already been slain. The Passover was fulfilled, and the kingdom of God had fully come.

Hebrews 9:12
And not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all time, having obtained eternal redemption.

† Jesus entered the true heavenly tabernacle, offering His blood once for all, accomplishing what the animal sacrifices could never do. The earthly Passover looked forward to this perfect redemption.

Revelation 5:9-10
And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You were slaughtered, and You purchased people for God with Your blood from every tribe, language, people, and nation. You have made them into a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth.

† The Lamb who was slain in Jerusalem was now enthroned in the heavenly realm. His blood purchased people from every nation, fulfilling what the Passover began—redemption not just for Israel, but for the world.

† What began as Israel's national deliverance in Egypt found its eternal completion in the New Jerusalem, where God's people now dwell with Him in everlasting covenant fellowship.

Historical References
† Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 2, describes the Passover as the central festival marking Israel's deliverance from Egypt.
† Justin Martyr (Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 40) wrote that Christ became our Passover, fulfilling all the types and shadows of the law.
† Eusebius (Demonstratio Evangelica, Book 8) explained that the Passover lamb prefigured the suffering of Christ and the redemption of His people.

How it applies to us today

† We no longer keep the Passover with literal lambs or unleavened bread. Instead, we live as those who've been passed over, redeemed by the blood of Christ. Our worship, our lives, and our fellowship reflect that new covenant reality. The Lord's Supper served as a covenant reminder until His coming, and that reminder continues, not through ritual bread and wine, but through our daily communion with Him as He lives within us.
† Every believer today lives in that fulfilled Passover reality. The wrath that once fell on Egypt and later on apostate Jerusalem has passed over us forever, because we're covered by the blood of the true Lamb, Jesus Christ, who reigns eternally in His kingdom.

† This is the fulfilled perspective we proclaim at Fulfilled Prophecies †
© Fulfilled Prophecies - Dan Maines.

Source Index
† Exodus 12:1-14; Matthew 22:7; Isaiah 53:7; John 1:29; Luke 22:15-20; 1 Corinthians 5:7-8; Hebrews 9:12; Revelation 5:9-10
† Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 2
† Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 40
† Eusebius, Demonstratio Evangelica, Book 8