Bible Commentaries
Exodus 12

Verses 1-51

While the subjects necessarily intermingle at this point, we turn from the contemplation of the judgments of Jehovah in dealing with Pharaoh to that of deliverance in His dealings with Israel. As these people were now to pass into national constitution, the calendar was altered. A rite was established which was called an ordinance, a feast, a sacrifice. Thus at the very beginning the nation was reminded that it was rooted in the fact of deliverance wrought by God through sacrifice.

The story of the actual exodus is told. It was indeed, as the sacred historian writes, "a night to be much observed." It was a night in which a people passed from slavery to liberty, from under the lash of oppression to the place of power under authority, from degradation to realization of national life. With them passed out a mixed multitude which constituted an element of danger, as tracing their history through subsequent books will show.

That exodus and the Passover feast were prophetic. Long ages were required fully to unfold the meaning, but in fullness of time its symbolism became manifest and Paul was able to write, "Our Passover also hath been sacrificed, even Christ . . . wherefore let us keep the feast."