21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover.

22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.

23 For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

Thus far we have heard the instructions that God relayed to Moses and Aaron, now we have an account of Moses and Aaron repeating the instructions to the elders of Israel. A few more details emerge in this telling, such the Israelites using hyssop for their brush, dabbing it in the blood of the lamb and striking it upon all three parts of their door: the lintel and both posts.

Hyssop was a shrub native to the area, renown for its medicinal properties. It appears multiple times throughout the Biblical record, perhaps most notably when it is dipped in vinegar and raised to the lips of Jesus when he thirsted on the cross. It is, therefore, yet another symbol that ties Israel’s sacrifice of the lamb at Passover to the atonement of Jesus Christ. It also occurs to me that the lintel of the door and its two accompanying posts could also be considered a representation of Christ between the two thieves at the time of his crucifixion.

The Israelites were also warned that they must not exit their houses during that night. The following text then suggests that God, Himself, would pass through their midst, personally walking their streets and observing the blood upon their door posts. Perhaps not only God, either, for there is also reference to “the destroyer,” whom God would not allow into the protected houses. This is a very dramatic image, and whether it described things as they would occur literally or symbolically, it seems clear that God was very near to His people in this pivotal moment, His power all about them, even while they dwelled in the midst of an enemy.