21 And Moses calleth for all the elders of Israel, and saith unto them, 'Draw out and take for yourselves 'from' the flock, for your families, and slaughter the passover-sacrifice; 22 and ye have taken a bunch of hyssop, and have dipped 'it' in the blood which 'is' in the basin, and have struck 'it' on the lintel, and on the two side-posts, from the blood which 'is' in the basin, and ye, ye go not out each from the opening of his house till morning. 23 'And Jehovah hath passed on to smite the Egyptians, and hath seen the blood on the lintel, and on the two side-posts, and Jehovah hath passed over the opening, and doth not permit the destruction to come into your houses to smite.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Exodus 12:21-23
Commentary on Exodus 12:21-28
(Read Exodus 12:21-28)
That night, when the first-born were to be destroyed, no Israelite must stir out of doors till called to march out of Egypt. Their safety was owing to the blood of sprinkling. If they put themselves from under the protection of that, it was at their peril. They must stay within, to wait for the salvation of the Lord; it is good to do so. In after-times they should carefully teach their children the meaning of this service. It is good for children to ask about the things of God; they that ask for the way will find it. The keeping of this solemnity every year was, 1. To look backward, that they might remember what great things God had done for them and their fathers. Old mercies, to ourselves, or to our fathers, must not be forgotten, that God may be praised, and our faith in him encouraged. 2. It was designed to look forward, as an earnest of the great sacrifice of the Lamb of God in the fulness of time. Christ our passover was sacrificed for us; his death was our life.