"It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover."--_Exodus 12:27._
WHEN the King of Egypt said the Israelites might go they were all up
and dressed, quite ready and only waiting, and off they set. No more
making of bricks, no more slaving for the Egyptians, no more drowning
of babies! They were free! and God was going to lead them to the
beautiful country that long ago He had said He would give them.
[Illustration: EGYPTIAN JUDGMENT SCENE.]
And so, to put them in mind how they were saved from the Egyptians, God
bade them on the same day in each year to kill a lamb and roast it, and
put the blood on the door-post, and eat the lamb all standing round the
table, dressed as if they were going for a journey, that they might
never forget how God had made them free. This was called the Passover,
because the angel passed over the houses where the blood was marked
over the door. And God came in a pillar of cloud to show them the way
they should go.
Our blessed Lord was crucified when He had come to the Feast of the
Passover many years after. You know He was like a lamb, He was so
pure and gentle; and His Blood saves us, as that lamb's blood did the
Israelites, and sets us free from the power of the devil. So we still
keep the feast of being set free, on this happy Easter Sunday, when we
recollect that Christ was slain for our sins, but that He rose again
from the dead, and liveth for evermore.