Moses is sent before Pharaoh and warns of the death of the firstborn, of Pharaoh’s firstborn. Pharaoh is unmoved. Others are moved. They revere Moses and the Israelites, giving to them their gold and silver jewelry when asked for it.

The people are instructed by the Lord what they are supposed to do. They are supposed to sacrifice a lamb, a perfect lamb without blemish.

This is a shadow of what was to come. The people didn’t know it, but they follow God’s specific instructions. They are to roast the lamb and not boil it. In the future, when there is a sacrifice in the temple on the altar of God, it will be offered with fire. This is a shadow of what’s to come.

They aren’t to leave any of it. Anything left will be consumed with fire. Our lives are to be full of Christ. Anything apart from that will be burned up when we are tested and proved by fire (1 Corinthians 3:13).

There are probably far more hints of Christ in this foreshadowing than I can see, but there are some I can clearly see.

We see that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). They will die. They will die justly. God is righteous, holy, and just. He’s not some madman going off on a rampage killing people. He has revealed Himself. He has made known the plan and the consequences. He has shown how you can be saved through the fear of the Lord and obedience to His word.

The Israelites have to fear the Lord and obey His word to be saved. As we saw with Abraham, the act of faith of believing God’s word (as evidenced by acting on it) is credited as righteousness. The Israelites are freed from the death sentence by their act of faith, believing God’s word and demonstrating their belief by obedience. They aren’t earning their salvation. They are being saved by faith in the God who saves.

The act of obedience in this story is the blood of a perfect lamb marking them as belonging to God. Death could not enter because they were marked with the blood.

People like to talk about the mark of the beast, but it’s not something you need to worry about if you’ve already been marked for Christ. Be marked for Christ, set apart for His holy purposes, by the blood of Christ cleansing you from unrighteousness and the seal of the Holy Spirit, keeping you for Himself.