Egypt, in the time of Moses, was a hard place. As a people, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived under a dark cloud of systemic racism and state-sanctioned oppression. Being sneered at, discriminated against, and put to forced labour was an everyday reality. It was bad times in Cairo. But the land of Egypt was about to come up against a Rock that was harder still.

Egypt was an apex nation - the pinnacle of civilization in the ancient world. Pharaoh had people convinced that he was a god and he ruled over Egypt with an iron fist. But when Moses stepped up and challenged Pharaoh to let his people go, the wheels started to come off. Week after week, as an obstinate Pharaoh denied the Hebrews their freedom, God ratcheted up the pressure. Plague after devastating plague brought Egypt to its knees. But blood, frogs, lice, flies, sickness, storms, locusts – even blocking out the sun, still could not break Pharaoh’s pride.

God had one final bomb to drop on the punch-drunk nation. But first, he had some very important instructions for the children of Israel: stay in your home, splash some lamb’s blood on your door, and get ready to march! The key was the blood on the door.

Behind that blood-stained door:

1. There was sanctuary. Whatever was about to befall the Egyptians, anyone behind a bloody door was in a safe place.
2. There was life. While Death stalked the narrow streets and alleyways of Cairo that night, it stopped dead at a blood-stained door.
3. There was hope. After more than a century of brutal subjugation, there was a gleam of light at the end of Israel’s long tunnel of darkness that night.

When the apocalyptic dawn came at last, Egypt was finished. There was not a single Egyptian household where someone hadn’t died during the night. The frantic Egyptians loaded the Hebrews with their silver and gold and begged them to leave their land forever. And so began Israel’s long walk to freedom.

What does this have to do with us?

Well, it is commonly understood that the Passover was a foreshadowing of the Passion. While the Passover saved the Jews of Moses' day from slavery, Christ’s death and resurrection saved the whole world. 1 Corinthians 5:7 says, “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” As the ‘Lamb of God’, his blood (his death) shields us from the curse of death. When we put our faith in the blood of Jesus, we also find a place of safety, of life, and of hope for all eternity.

The death angel will visit all of us eventually. At that point we will either find ourselves in the glorious presence of God or cast away into outer darkness and torment forever. Only those who have believed in Christ and applied his blood to the door of their hearts are safe.

Do you believe?