Passover

Passover was one of the three ancient pilgrimage festivals, wherein ancient Israelites would journey to the temple of Jerusalem, according to the command of the Lord (see Ex. 23:14–17). The Passover festival, as set forth in Exodus 12, reveals Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice. This festival encompasses rituals and commandments that anticipate Jesus’s death—His blood would spill on the cross, His legs would not be broken, He would be killed after noon, and a large assembly would kill Him. In fact, the correspondences between the Passover and Jesus Christ’s death are so notable that Paul named Jesus “Our Passover” (1 Cor. 5:7) and John called Jesus “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29).

The Passover lamb had to be without physical blemishes.

Correspondences between the Passover and Jesus

Passover	Jesus Christ
The Passover offering was a lamb (Ex. 12:3)	Jesus is “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29)
The lamb was called “the Lord’s Passover” (Ex. 12:11)	Jesus was called “Passover” (1 Cor. 5:7)
The Passover lamb was a male (Ex. 12:5)	Jesus is a male
The Passover lamb was without blemish (Ex. 12:5)	Christ was “without blemish and without spot” (1 Pet. 1:18–19)
The lamb was sacrificed at Passover (Ex. 12:6)	Jesus was sacrificed at Passover (John 19:14)
The Passover lamb was killed after noon (Ex. 12:6)	Jesus was killed after noon (Matt. 27:46)
Israel ate bitter herbs (Ex. 12:8)	Jesus drank from the bitter cup (D&C 19:18)
The token of the lamb’s blood saved ancient Israel from death (Ex. 12:13)	Christ’s atoning blood saves souls from the grave and from spiritual death (Hel. 5:9)
Lamb’s blood was struck on the door’s vertical posts and horizontal beam (Ex. 12:7)	Christ’s blood fell on the cross’s vertical post and horizontal beam
Israel ate the “flesh” of the lamb (Ex. 12:8)	Sacramental bread, which is eaten, represents Christ’s body (Matt. 26:26)
The whole assembly killed the Passover lamb (Ex. 12:6)	The entire nation slew Jesus (Matt. 27:20–23; Luke 23:1, 10, 13, 23, 35)
No bones of the sacrificial lamb were broken (Ex. 12:46)	Christ’s bones were not broken on the cross (John 19:33)
The Passover released Israel from bondage (Ex. 12:31)	The Atonement releases mortals from the bondage of sin and death (D&C 84:49–53; 2 Ne. 9:12)
The Passover provided temporal deliverance to those who smeared the lamb’s blood on their door posts (Ex. 12:7)	Jesus provides spiritual deliverance to those who accept His blood (Matt. 1:21; Luke 4:18)