It had to be a male lamb (Exodus 12:5)
God tolerated no female substitutes. It is not Mary (whom the Catholics exalt as a co-redeemer) but Jesus who is the Saviour. Why did it have to be a male? The Bible clearly teaches us that sin entered the world by one man [Adam] (Romans 5:12; 1 Timothy 2:12–14), and that it needed one Man [Jesus] to atone for sin (Romans 5:17–19). Therefore the male lamb is symbolic of the Son of God known as the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29).
A lamb for each house (Exodus 12:3–4)
The Passover applied to each individual household amongst the people of Israel. It is interesting that the Jews were allowed to be shepherds, as well as bricklayers, in Egypt (Genesis 46:34) because they were an abomination to the Egyptians. So they would have had enough lambs for the Passover. The Messiah was to be the sacrifice for individuals as well as the world. Scripture tells us that He is the Saviour for the individual (Luke 23:39–43), the Nation of Israel (John 11:49–52), and for the whole world (John 1:29). Other Old Testament scriptures point to Jesus as being the true sacrificial Lamb (Genesis 22:7; Isaiah 53).
The lamb was killed between the evenings (Exodus 12:6)
The Biblical day is from sundown to sundown (6pm to 6pm). The day is split up into two parts: The evening runs from 6pm to 6am, and the morning runs from 6am to 6pm. The evening part of this twenty-four hour period is between noon to 6pm, therefore ‘between the evenings’ is 3pm, exactly the time Jesus died on the cross. The 9th hour of the day in Matthew 27:45–50 is 3pm. God always works to perfect timing
The First Month (v.2)
Passover meant a new calendar for Israel. It spoke of a new beginning for them as they left the life of bondage they had known in Egypt. The Cross means a new beginning for the believer — a new covenant (Luke 22:20; Hebrews 8:6–13) and a new birth (John 3:7). “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17.
Lamb taken, kept 4 days (vs.3,6)
Christ was foreordained to die.
“He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake” 1 Peter 1:20.
The lamb was kept 4 days. 2 Pet. 3:8 declares: “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day”. From Adam’s sin to the Cross is 4000 years — 4 “days” of the Lord.
A Lamb for a House (v.3)
“…‘Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved — you and your household.’ Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.… then immediately he and all his family were baptised. The jailer .… was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God — he and his whole family” Acts 16:31–34.
A Lamb Without Blemish (v.5)
“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” 1 Peter 1:18–19.
A Year-Old Male (v.5)
“For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” 1 Cor.15:21–22 (Rom.5:15).
All the People Kill Lamb (v.6)
While the Jews were celebrating the natural feast — God was fulfilling it in reality. See John 19:14–15.
