Israel and the Exodus.—The principal events of the Mosaic dispensation were the exodus from Egypt and the establishment of Israel as an independent nation, under the leadership of their great prophet and lawgiver, Moses. Both these events foreshadowed greater ones, namely: the world's deliverance from the bondage of sin and death, and the establishment upon earth of the Kingdom that shall stand forever.
The Passover.—The exodus was commemorated by the Feast of the Passover, instituted to perpetuate in the minds and hearts of the children of Israel their deliverance from slavery, and at the same time to foreshow the mightier redemption of which that exodus was typical. The Passover was kept as follows: On the night before the departure out of Egypt, each Israelitish household, obedient to God's command through Moses, took a lamb "without blemish," and slew it, sprinkling the blood upon the posts and lintels of their doors. It was promised that the Angel of Death, who had been sent to afflict the cruel nation for its oppression of the Lord's people, by slaying the first-born of every Egyptian household, would pass over every Israelitish dwelling upon which this blood was sprinkled. Not a bone of the lamb was to be broken, nor a fragment of it left to decay; for it was intended to symbolize the Lamb of God, whose body was not to see corruption (Ps. 16:10). Neither was any bone of him to be broken.
Symbolism Realized.—In a most remarkable manner was this symbolism realized; for when the Roman soldiers came to Calvary to remove the three bodies from the crosses erected there, they put an end to both the malefactors by breaking their legs; but finding Jesus already dead, this additional indignity was not put upon him. Pierced with five wounds, yet not a bone of him broken, the Lamb of God answered to the prophetic likeness of the paschal lamb, and was laid away in the rocky tomb, from which he came forth upon the third day, his perfectly preserved body—the tabernacle of the Holy One—glorified in immortality.
The Paschal Ceremony.—In the ceremonial of the Passover, the flesh of the lamb was roasted, and partaken of with bitter herbs and with unleavened bread, or bread hastily prepared; the former typifying the bitterness of the bondage that was about to end, and the latter the haste attendant upon the departure out of Egypt. To emphasize this fact still further, the members of the family, while partaking of the feast, then and thereafter, were clad as if for a journey.—(Exodus 12.)
Shadow and Substance.—This sacred memorial, a reminder to God's people of what he had done, and would yet do, was observed in Israel, by divine appointment, until the coming of Christ. The night before he was sacrificed, he, the great Paschal Lamb, after partaking of the ancient feast with his disciples, instituted in its stead the Lord's Supper, commanding them to observe it thenceforth. The Supper and the Passover were both designed to commemorate the Savior's atonement; but in the Passover the pointing was forward, to an event yet to come, while in the Supper the indication is backward, to an event that has already taken place. It was about the same hour of the day when the paschal lamb was offered in the temple at Jerusalem, that Christ died on Calvary, the substance and the shadow thus corresponding.
The Great Deliverer.—The lamb of the Passover symbolized the Lamb of God, the universal Deliverer, and Moses, who led the Lord's people out of Egypt, was also a type of the world's Redeemer. Jesus, whose mission the career of Moses foreshadowed, is repeatedly described in the sacred writings as "like unto Moses;" and Moses, the type of Christ, was reputedly "the meekest of men."
How Moses Obtained the Priesthood.—Moses was of the tribe of Levi, and son-in-law to Jethro, from whom he received the Priesthood.
"And Jethro received it under the hand of Caleb;
"And Caleb received it under the hand of Elihu;
"And Elihu under the hand of Jeremy;