Blood on the door · the night God passed over
A Bible story to tell as a family · Exodus 12:21–31 · ages 5–12 · 10 min
The story
For a very long time the people of Israel had been slaves in Egypt. Bricks, mud, hot sun, endless work. God had already sent nine plagues, and Pharaoh kept saying no: he would not let the people go. So God told Moses that one last plague was coming, the most serious of all, and gave very detailed instructions, like a rescue plan.
Each family was to choose a lamb, a one-year-old male without any defect. If the family was too small for a whole lamb, they shared it with their nearest neighbor. No one was left out for being small! On the appointed day, at twilight, the lamb was sacrificed. Then came the strangest part: taking a bunch of hyssop, a little plant that works like a paintbrush, dipping it in the blood and brushing it on both sides of the door and on the beam above.
Imagine the children of Israel watching: Dad, why are we painting the door? God explained why: “The blood on the houses where you are staying will distinguish them.” And he promised: “when I see the blood, I will pass over you.” That is where the name Passover comes from: the night the LORD passed over the marked houses.
That night, no one could leave the house until morning. The family ate the meat roasted over the fire, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, and they ate in a funny way: sandals on their feet, belts tightened and staffs in hand, ready to run! Inside, the smell of roast meat and warm bread. Outside, silence and darkness.
At midnight, what God had warned about happened: the firstborn sons in the houses of Egypt died, from Pharaoh’s palace to the prison. It was a night of great weeping, and the Bible does not hide that sadness. But in the houses with blood on the door, death did not come in. Not because those families were better, but because they were under the sign God himself had given.
While it was still night, Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said: “Get up, leave my people.” After so many years, the people were free! And God commanded that this night be remembered every year, forever. He even foresaw the children’s question: “What does this service mean to you?” And the parents were to answer by telling how God had spared their homes.
More than a thousand years later, Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples on the night before he died on the cross. And the apostle Paul wrote: “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” Jesus is the Lamb without defect. Whoever takes shelter in what he has done need not be afraid: he frees us from slavery to sin and leads us into freedom.
21Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and told them, “Go at once and select for yourselves a lamb for each family, and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22Take a cluster of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin, and brush the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out the door of his house until morning. 23When the LORD passes through to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway; so He will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down. 24And you are to keep this command as a permanent statute for you and your descendants. 25When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as He promised, you are to keep this service. 26When your children ask you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’ 27you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck down the Egyptians and spared our homes.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped. 28And the Israelites went and did just what the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron. 29Now at midnight the LORD struck down every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the firstborn among the livestock. 30During the night Pharaoh got up—he and all his officials and all the Egyptians—and there was loud wailing in Egypt; for there was no house without someone dead. 31Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Get up, leave my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested.
What the Bible says
- v. 22: with a bunch of hyssop, the families put the blood on the lintel and on both doorposts.
- v. 23: when the LORD sees the blood, he passes over the door and does not let the destroyer come in.
- v. 26: God foresees that the children will ask what the Passover means, and tells the parents to explain it.
What we learn
God saved Israel in a way no one would have invented: through the blood of a lamb without defect, placed on the door as a sign. The link to Jesus is explicit in the New Testament: “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7), and John recalls that none of Jesus’ bones were broken, just like the Passover lamb (John 19:36; Exodus 12:46). Seeing in the marked door a picture of those who take shelter in the cross is a traditional Christian reading. And God wants children to ask: faith passes from generation to generation through conversation.
Questions to talk about
For little ones
- Where did the families put the lamb’s blood?
- Who protected the houses that night?
For kids
- Were the families saved because they were good, or because of the sign God gave?
- Paul calls Jesus our Passover lamb. What did Jesus do for us that is like the lamb?
For teens
- The death of the firstborn is a hard part of the story. How do you deal with texts where God judges? What changes when you remember that, on the cross, God himself gave up his Son?
For adults
- God told parents to answer their children’s questions. What questions about faith have you been avoiding at home, and why?
Activity
Passover door: cut a piece of paper into the shape of a door and tape it to a bedroom door. With a sponge and red paint, or a crayon, color both sides and the top. Then have a quick snack standing up, with sneakers on, like people ready to travel, with unleavened bread (plain crackers work). In the middle of the snack, a child asks: what does this mean? And an adult answers by reading 1 Corinthians 5:7.
To memorize: Exodus 12:13
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you are the Lamb without defect who was given in our place. Thank you that, sheltered in you, we don’t need to be afraid. Help our family always remember how you set us free. In Jesus’ name, amen.