Safe Till Sunrise!

“And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.” (Ex 12:22 AV)

To understand the full picture here, we need to realize the results of the requirement of blood upon the mantle and side posts of the door.  The blood was the blood from their sacrificial lamb.  Jesus Christ is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.  The instrument used was the hyssop branch.  The hyssop tree is similar to a pine tree.  The needles do not run along the length of the branch.  Rather, they are a ball at the end of the crocked branch.  Sort of like a toilet bowl brush.  They were not told to brush the blood on.  Rather, they were told to strike the blood-soaked branch.  The book of Isaiah tells us He was stricken for our iniquities.  One has to use his imagination here.  If the bowl of blood was on the ground.  Striking the mantle would have left a trail of blood from the bottom to the top.  Striking the side posts would have caused the blood to splatter towards the center of the door.  Thus, the shape created by striking, rather than brushing would have resulted in a blood soaked cross!  Now comes the great part.  They were told to dwell behind the blood-cross until the morning.  Even though the angel of death passed over at midnight, and death was commenced and concluded shortly after that, they were told to remain behind that cross until the morning!  When the Son rises from the east, or redemption draweth nigh!

It didn’t take much for them to realize the blood-cross worked.  Once the clock struck midnight and the wailing of the Egyptians commenced, all the Hebrews had to do was to take a role call.  As long as the firstborn was still alive, God proved His faithfulness.  One can imagine the mixed emotions they must have felt.  Sure, a bit of nervousness started the evening.  But as minutes turned to hours and the firstborn was still alive, it must have turned to joy.  God was true!  God was faithful!  Their safety was guaranteed by a Cross at the door.  They were kept safe until the morning broke.  No threat of death.  God saw them through the night.  Sight was not sufficient.  They could not see the events outside their four walls.  They had to take by faith the LORD would protect the firstborn of their cattle.  If they heard pounding at the door of Egyptians who choose not to trust, they could not open.  No matter how the world was reacting to the judgment of God, that blood-cross sealed them from all harm.  This is how the saint should live his life in the generation.

The morning is coming.  Christ, the Morning Star, will arise in our hearts.  He will return for His bride.  Even if we are not the generation which is caught up in the air, our departure from this earth is our morning.  The Savior has kept us from death by the blood of His cross.  The world cannot remove it.  They cannot take it away.  The Cross is sufficient to carry us through the night of doubt, fear, anxiety, persecutions, temptations, and trials.  The Cross is the shadow upon which we hide behind.  The Cross is the power of the guiding Master to keep His own and bring them home.  The Cross is the beginning of a journey that may start out a bit dark, but it has a morning that will dawn.  A new day which had no night will be our home.  Stay behind that Cross!  Don’t look around it.  Don’t get your mind and eyes off the reality of what that Cross provides.  No matter how much the wicked wail by reason of the circumstances of rejection, it doesn’t change the fact we are covered by the Cross.  It cannot be removed.  It is done and it is finished.  Stay there till morning!  Only behind the blood-soaked Cross is there peace and joy.  Stay there until morning!