21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families , and slay the Passover lamb. 22 " You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin , and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts ; and none e of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning . 23 "For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians ; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts , the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you. 24 "And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever e . 25 "When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, as He has promised , you shall observe this rite . 26 " And when your children say to you, 'What does this rite mean to you?' 27 you shall say , 'It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians , but spared our homes .' " And the people bowed low and worshiped . 28 Then the sons of Israel went and did so; just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron , so they did .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Exodus 12:21-28
Commentary on Exodus 12:21-28
(Read Exodus 12:21-28)
That night, when the first-born were to be destroyed, no Israelite must stir out of doors till called to march out of Egypt. Their safety was owing to the blood of sprinkling. If they put themselves from under the protection of that, it was at their peril. They must stay within, to wait for the salvation of the Lord; it is good to do so. In after-times they should carefully teach their children the meaning of this service. It is good for children to ask about the things of God; they that ask for the way will find it. The keeping of this solemnity every year was, 1. To look backward, that they might remember what great things God had done for them and their fathers. Old mercies, to ourselves, or to our fathers, must not be forgotten, that God may be praised, and our faith in him encouraged. 2. It was designed to look forward, as an earnest of the great sacrifice of the Lamb of God in the fulness of time. Christ our passover was sacrificed for us; his death was our life.