Pointing to Jesus (Exodus 11)

Summary:

In Exodus 11, God announces to Moses the tenth and final plague: the death of every firstborn in Egypt, from Pharaoh’s heir to the lowliest servant’s child, and even the firstborn of livestock. 

This plague will be so devastating that Pharaoh will finally drive the Israelites out. 

God instructs Moses to tell the people to ask their Egyptian neighbors for silver, gold, and clothing (which they willingly give, due to God’s favor on Moses). 

Moses delivers the warning to Pharaoh: at midnight, the Lord will pass through Egypt, and every firstborn will die—except in homes marked by the blood of the Passover lamb (foreshadowed here and detailed in ch. 12). 

Pharaoh’s heart remains hardened, and he refuses to listen.

Pointing to Jesus:

The announcement of the firstborn’s death directly foreshadows Christ as the ultimate Passover Lamb. 

Just as the destroyer “passed over” the Israelite homes marked by lamb’s blood, sparing their firstborn, so Christ’s blood shields God’s elect from the judgment of eternal death. 

This is a vivid picture of substitutionary atonement and definite redemption: the firstborn of Egypt die under God’s wrath, while Israel’s firstborn are redeemed by the death of a spotless substitute. 

Jesus, the true firstborn over all creation (Col. 1:15) and the only begotten Son, voluntarily takes the place of God’s chosen people, bearing the curse so that those united to Him by faith are delivered from the angel of death. 

The plague reveals that no one escapes God’s judgment except through the applied blood of the Lamb—a blood that does not merely cover sin temporarily but propitiates God’s wrath once for all.

Reflection:

Exodus 11 reminds believers that we live in a world still under the sentence of death because of sin, yet we have been marked by the blood of Christ. This gives us both sober warning and profound comfort. The same God who hardened Pharaoh’s heart for His glory and the salvation of His people is sovereign over every heart today—ours included. For the Christian, this chapter calls us to cling daily to the finished work of the Lamb, resting in the objective reality that judgment has already passed over us. It also stirs evangelistic urgency: apart from the blood of Jesus, every person remains exposed to the righteous wrath of God. Finally, it teaches us to live as redeemed exiles—plundering the world’s goods (as Israel took Egypt’s wealth) not for selfish gain, but as stewards of grace in a dying land, longing for the final exodus when Christ returns to lead us home.