In preparation for the tenth plague in Egypt, Jehovah instructed the nation of Israel to observe the first Passover (Exodus 12).  Each household was told to kill a lamb without blemish, roast it and then eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.  Blood from the lamb was to be smeared upon the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where the meals were eaten (12:7).  God explained, “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” (12:13).

            Seeing Jesus, John the baptizer announced, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).  Truly, God has now provided the perfect male lamb without blemish.    Redemption and justification are possible because God in His righteousness put forth Christ Jesus “as a propitiation by His blood” (Romans 3:25).  Believers may be redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19).  Atonement for sin is through the sacrifice of the Lamb God provided – His Son.  “According to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” (Hebrews 9:22).  “In Him [Christ] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

            The slain Lamb prevailed and was worthy to take the heavenly scroll and open its seals of judgment (Revelation 5:6, 9).  By His blood He redeems men out of every nation to God.  Salvation belongs to God and to the Lamb (7:10). God Almighty and the Lamb will be heaven’s temple, while the Lamb illuminates with the glory of God (21:22-23).  The water of life will flow from the throne of God and of the Lamb so that there is no more curse (22:1, 3).  Only those persons who are written in the Lamb’s Book of life will enter heaven (Revelation 21:27).  Have you been washed by the blood of Lamb?  The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from our sins.  Believers access the power of His death by being buried with Him through baptism into death (Romans 6:4, 17).