Ex. 12
ON that ever memorable night in Israel’s history, when “the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle,” the children of Israel were shut up in their houses under the shelter and security of the blood of the lamb, with a direction from the Lord that “none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when HE seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.” Thus we see that the blood of the “lamb without blemish” was the only ground for the safety and deliverance of the children of Israel when the destroyer was abroad. All were to be shut up within the blood-sprinkled houses. The old man, bowed down with the weight of a hundred years, and the aged partner of his joys and sorrows; the strong man rejoicing in his strength, and the mother that had borne seven; the young man and the maiden, and the children, from the rosy boy and girl to the babe that had just uttered the cry of life;—all were safe from the destroying sword, simply because they were confined within the doors of their houses on which was the sprinkled blood. Outside of the boundary of blood neither the hoary head of the aged nor the helplessness and harmlessness of the infant could shield them from the judgment of Jehovah, which was that night taking its way through the land of Egypt. All depended upon the blood. “The blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.”
Just so. “It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” (Lev. 17:1111For the 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: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. (Leviticus 17:11).) “And without shedding of blood is no remission.” (Heb. 9:2222And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. (Hebrews 9:22).) Apart from the blood of Christ, which was shed for the remission of sins, there is no salvation for the sinner, nor deliverance from the judgment of God; for to meet God in our sins is to meet Him in judgment. The value and virtue of that blood are only fully known to God Himself, but every soul that takes refuge in it finds present and everlasting salvation, and has his joy and delight in Him who shed it, gladly joining in that blessed ascription of praise, “Unto HIM that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father, to HIM be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” (Rev. 1:55And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (Revelation 1:5).)