Institution of Passover

Before the tenth plague, God instructed Moses and Aaron on how Israel should prepare:

Each household was to select an unblemished lamb on the tenth day of the month and slaughter it at twilight on the fourteenth day. They were to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of their houses.

That same night, they would roast the lamb and eat it with bitter herbs and unleavened bread, dressed and ready for a journey—their sandals on their feet and their staffs in their hands.

“On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn… The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.”

This became the Passover festival, commemorated annually as a lasting ordinance—a reminder of how God delivered Israel from bondage with a mighty hand.