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"The soul (life) of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to
make an atonement for your souls (lives): for it is the blood that maketh an atonement by
reason of the soul (life)" (Lev. 17: 11).
The shed blood atoned for the soul or life, by reason of the soul in it. The sprinkled
blood upon the door post was a sign that redemption had been made. Nothing else could
be that sign and nothing else did the Lord `see'. No genealogy showing direct descent
from Abraham could be a sign; no promises, vows, prayers, nothing but the sprinkled
blood redeemed and protected those in the house. It is important to understand that the
Lord `passing over' each house of the Israelites was synonymous with protecting. It is
difficult to understand that the act of passing over a building could protect it from harm.
But when we realize that the word pasach, "pass over", is rendered "halt" in
I Kings 18: 21, `how long halt ye between two opinions?' and here is the thought of
suspension of movement. `Hovering' gives the sense better in Exodus. The theme of
Deut. 32: 11 seems appropriate here:
"As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her
wings . . . . .".
The Lord, like the eagle, spread abroad His wings, hovered over the houses of His
people, protecting them from the destroyer that went through the land and caused death in
every house. Psa. 91: 4 expresses the feeling of pasach--`to pass over' without using
the word:
"He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust."
We should note too that the two side posts and the upper door post were sprinkled
with the blood, but never the floor and the threshold, for not even in type would God
allow `trampling under foot the Son of God and counting the blood of the covenant . . . . .
an unholy thing' (Heb. 10: 29). God's true Passover Lamb was perfect inside and out and
in Him alone can we find redemption, acceptance and access.
The immediate result of the Passover was that all who came under the redeeming
action became `pilgrims':
"And thus shalt ye eat it: with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your
staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste" (Exod. 12: 11).
There could be no more waiting in Egypt, the place of bondage, after such redemption,
the exodus to freedom must start straight away. All this great illustration of the fulness of
redemption must have been in Paul's mind when he wrote:
"Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us" (I Cor. 5: 7).
The Atonement.
After Israel were separated by redemption from Egypt (a type of the world system
under the domination of a greater than Pharaoh, Satan), the next great typical movement
was the erection of the Tabernacle. In this, the Mercy Seat is the central feature. Priests