The first Passover and death of the firstborn are the decisive final plague in the Israelites’ departure from Egypt: the LORD distinguishes Israelite households by the blood-marked entrances, strikes Egypt’s firstborn at midnight, and compels Pharaoh to let the people go. The account also establishes Passover and Unleavened Bread as perpetual observances that preserve the memory of deliverance across generations.

The Passover Preparation

The LORD tells Moses and Aaron that the month will become the beginning of Israel’s year. On its tenth day, each household is to select a year-old, unblemished male lamb, from either the sheep or the goats. A small household may share one with its nearest neighbor, with the number of participants determining the portion.

The lamb is kept until the fourteenth day, when the whole assembly of the Israelites kills it at dusk. The household marks its doorway with the lamb’s blood, using hyssop to apply it to the lintel and the two side-posts. The meal is eaten that night: the meat roasted over fire, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Nothing is to remain until morning, and any remainder must be burned.

The meal is eaten in readiness for departure, with belts fastened, shoes on, and staffs in hand. The Israelites are also told to remain inside until morning. The blood on the entrance is the sign by which the LORD passes over the house and prevents the destroyer from entering.

The Plague and Release

At midnight, the LORD strikes every firstborn in Egypt, from Pharaoh’s firstborn to the firstborn of the captive in the dungeon, as well as the firstborn of the cattle. A great cry rises throughout Egypt; there is no house without a death. The narrative presents this judgment as the decisive contrast between Egypt and Israel, whose houses are spared.

Pharaoh summons Moses and Aaron during the night and tells them to leave with the Israelites and serve the LORD, taking their flocks and herds; he also asks them to bless him. The Egyptians press the people to depart quickly, fearing that they will all die. The Israelites carry away their dough before it can rise, along with silver, gold, and clothing obtained from the Egyptians. Their hurried departure makes the unleavened bread a lasting material reminder of the circumstances of the exodus.

A Feast of Memory

The account turns the night’s deliverance into an enduring ordinance. Passover is to be kept throughout the generations, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread lasts seven days: leaven is removed from the houses, and eating leavened bread during the period carries the penalty of exclusion from Israel. The first and seventh days are holy convocations, when ordinary work is prohibited apart from preparing food.

The observance is designed to teach as well as commemorate. When children ask what the service means, their parents are to explain that the sacrifice recalls how the LORD passed over Israelite houses while striking Egypt and delivered their households. The people bow and worship, then carry out the instructions given to Moses and Aaron.

The same deliverance becomes a framework for Israel’s later covenant identity. Moses recalls that the LORD brought Israel out of the house of bondage, and the command to keep the Sabbath is grounded in the people’s memory of having been servants in Egypt. The Passover thus links household ritual and inherited memory to the wider obligation to live as a people delivered by the LORD.