As the children of Israel journeyed, they passed by Rameses — that great treasure city which they had built for Pharaoh. This is just like what we have to do if we are going to be in the path that is pleasing to the Lord. Once we were slaves to sin and Satan, anxious to have all our treasures here, but as Christians we are called out of this Egypt-world and our treasures are in heaven. The more we lay hold of our heavenly treasures (the unsearchable riches of Christ), the more willing we will be to give up the empty vanities of this scene. The children of Israel gladly left their place of slavery in Egypt and had Canaan ahead of them. How much better is our eternal heavenly home ahead of us!
Title by Circumcision
God said of the Passover, “It is a night to be much observed unto the Lord” (ch. 12:42). Should we not feel this, though in a deeper and fuller sense, concerning the “night” which the Lord Jesus passed through for us at the cross of Calvary?
All males who kept the Passover were to be circumcised, whether strangers or Israelites. There was only one law for both. The one title (ticket) to that feast was circumcision, the sign of death, figuring the death of Christ. Only those who took that place had a right to eat the Passover. So now, only those who know that Christ died for them have a right to eat the Lord’s supper. This is our only title. But our title is not a figure — it is a reality! It is the death of Christ applied to our own personal need.
Because of the wondrous deliverance granted to the children of Israel, they were told that the firstborn was to be the Lord’s. Of course, in Israel it was a law — they must own the Lord’s claim — but in Christianity it is the constraint of love. When we think of what the Lord has done for us, of the mighty cost of our redemption, surely we feel that we belong to the Lord, “Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price” (1 Cor. 6:19-2019What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. (1 Corinthians 6:19‑20)). May we who are saved do as the Macedonians of old, who “first gave their own selves to the Lord” (2 Cor. 8:55And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God. (2 Corinthians 8:5)).
Redemptions’ Claim
God told the children of Israel that the remembrance of this was to be upon their hands (affecting all they did), for a memorial between their eyes (guiding them in all that attracted their eyes), and in their mouths (the subject of their conversation). In other words, it was to affect their whole life from then on, and so the knowledge of Christ as our Saviour should affect our whole life.
Every firstling of an ass (donkey) was to be redeemed with a lamb, and all the firstborn of their children were to be redeemed too. A donkey, as we know, is a very stubborn animal. Since we are so stubborn, God compares each one of us to a donkey (Job 11:1212For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt. (Job 11:12)). Either the donkey must be redeemed or it must die, just as every sinner must either be redeemed or else die. Either he must take shelter under the shed blood of Christ, or he must spend eternity in the lake of fire, which is eternal death.
Further Meditation
1. What spiritual truth is illustrated by circumcision?
2. What else required redemption in the Scriptures?
3. Night Scenes of Scripture by W. T. P. Wolston has a section on redemption discussing the same night mentioned in this chapter. You might find it helpful in studying this subject further.