The blood shall be a sign

Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:13)

“The blood shall be a sign…”

The Hebrew word for sign is “Ot” – אוֹת It means – a signal, a mark, or a miraculous sign. In studying other passages in which the word אוֹת is used, two things are clear. First, it is a sign for someone,  and second, there is a message in the sign. 

So, who is this Exodus 12:13 sign for and what is its message?

“Now the blood shall be a sign for you…”  

First, the blood is a sign for us.

In Exodus 12:12, God makes it clear that judgement was coming to Egypt, ‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.” 

All the firstborn were in peril, no matter who they were. No matter how smart or well connected, no one could save themselves or their children. Salvation required the blood of another! In Egypt, it was the blood of the unblemished Passover lamb that caused God’s judgment to pass over the people.

This unblemished lamb prophetically points to Seh HaElohim, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. It is Yeshua’s (Jesus’) blood that causes God’s judgement to ‘pass over’ us today.

There is yet a day of judgement coming upon the whole earth.  “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. …And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:11,15)   

Thus, the message is clear: On the day of the great white throne of judgment, it will not matter who you are; only the blood of the Lamb of God will save you. “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”(Acts 4:12)

“…when I see the blood…” 

Second, the blood is a sign to God.

The blood on the door is our sign to God. It tells Him that we believe! We believe His report about the evil of sin and of the coming judgement. We believe in His provision – Seh HaElohim, the Lamb of God! We trust Him to save us through His blood. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Messiah, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes… (Romans 1:16)

When we repent and apply the blood of Yeshua (Jesus) over the doorposts of our hearts, we send a message to God that we believe the Gospel.

Third, the blood is a sign to the world.

The blood on the door is a sign of separation from the world. It is a ‘line in the sand’. Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, …” kill the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning.” (Exodus 12:21-22)

To the world, the Jewish People placing the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of their homes may have seemed foolish. It may have seemed foolish that they chose to stay within the boundaries provided by the blood, remaining inside until morning. But by that blood the children of Israel declared themselves to be God’s people by faith and obedience.  This blood is a sign of separation from the world.

“…the plague shall not be on you to destroy you…” 

Finally, the blood is a sign to the Destroyer.

When the Destroyer saw the blood on the doors of those who obeyed, he passed over their homes.  Everyone who did not obey was vulnerable to the coming judgment.

As we trust in Messiah’s (Jesus’) blood on our lives today, we send a message to the evil one: “Destroyer, you cannot come in here; you cannot touch us, you cannot touch our families, you cannot touch our possessions. We have victory over you!”

The blood on the homes in Egypt, and Messiah’s blood on our lives today, is a sign to us, a sign to God, a sign to the world, and a sign to the Destroyer. His blood gives us victory!

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. (Revelation 12:11)