²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.

Firstborn” was a position, a status in the ancient world. Often it meant a double portion of the inheritance and authority in the family after the father passed away. Prior to the story of Passover in Exodus 12, the importance of the firstborn was significant in Scripture in three incidents. Abraham was called upon by God to offer up his firstborn (through Sarah). Isaac had two sons, Esau and Jacob, whose well-known story contains the famous episode of Jacob stealing the birthright of the firstborn from Esau (Genesis 25). And then Jacob took the children of his favorite son Joseph, and blessed the second-born over the firstborn (Genesis 48).

So when Moses goes back to confront Pharaoh, he says, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Israel is My son, My firstborn’ ” (Exodus 4:22). All of Israel had the status of being God’s “firstborn” among the nations of the earth. As such, they were His special people, with special privileges. And thus, the tenth and deciding miracle of Egypt dealt with the death of the firstborn of the land, signifying that as God would, in reality and symbolically, protect the literal firstborn of the Jews, He would protect His firstborn of the nations, the Jewish people as a whole.

This theme is carried forward in Scripture. Upon exit from Egypt, the Jews were to, “Sanctify to Me every firstborn, the first offspring of every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and beast; it belongs to Me” (Ex 13:2). These were the ones preserved through the Passover! But then, God would provide a substitute for them: “… I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every firstborn, the first issue of the womb among the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be Mine” (Nu 3:12). The Levitical priests were then to function in the role of firstborn of the families of Israel. They were the ones who possessed the privilege of approaching God on behalf of the people.

In time, the promised blessing of Abraham would come into the world, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul wrote of Him, “He is … the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything” (Col 1:18). While God gave believers the “right to become children of God,” Jesus Christ holds the position of firstborn as the “only-begotten” of God (John 1:14). And we have been “… predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren…” (Rom 8:29).

Lord, I bow and worship the favored, firstborn Son, Who was my substitute. Because of Him, death cannot destroy me.