On the night before he and his dad were to leave, he had packed all the clothes and other gear he thought he would need: extra pants, gloves, cap, sleeping bag, and boots. When he had announced he was ready to go, his dad had taken a few moments to go over the contents of John’s pack. After a moment, his dad had looked up with a puzzled frown and said, “John, why didn’t you pack that red jacket your mother bought for you to take?”

John had fished in his pack and said, “I packed my old brown one instead. See, here it is. I figured if I wore the red one, the deer would see me. I want to be able to sneak up on them!”

His dad had smiled, but he removed the brown jacket from John’s pack. He said, “I can understand your wanting to sneak up on the deer, John, but don’t worry about their spotting your red jacket. Deer don’t recognize color, but a hunter will.”

John remembered that his dad had gone to the hall closet and come back carrying the red jacket. “Here it is,” he said, “Put it in your pack. I’ll be wearing mine, too, when we go into the woods tomorrow. It is important. That red jacket could save your life!”

Many years ago the Children of Israel, while being held captive in Egypt, needed protection just as John had needed his red jacket. But it wasn’t hunters the Children of Israel needed protection from; it was God’s judgment on the Egyptians. God spoke to Moses and told him that His final judgment on Egypt would be the death of the firstborn in every home.

In order for the Children of Israel to be protected, they would have to follow God’s command. Moses told each family that God had commanded them to choose from their flocks a lamb that was without blemish. They were to kill the lamb and sprinkle its blood on the top and the sides of the door frame of their home. Just as John’s jacket was a sign to the hunters not to shoot, the blood of the lamb on the doorposts would be a sign that the lamb had died and that all of God’s commandments had been kept in that home.

The fact that the Israelites had faith in God, and had killed the lambs, did not save them from death. Only by following instructions and applying the blood to the doorposts were they saved. Today it takes the Blood of Jesus to save us from eternal death. When Jesus died on the Cross and rose again, He completed God’s perfect plan of salvation. As the truly unblemished Lamb, He shed His Blood that we might be saved.

We must be sure to have the Blood of Jesus applied to our hearts. We do this by praying to Jesus and telling Him how sorry we are for our sins, and that we never want to sin again. He will then forgive us and we will be saved from eternal death.

The night finally came when God’s warning to the people in Egypt came to pass. At that midnight hour, the Lord went through Egypt, and in every house where the blood was not applied, the oldest child died.

Just as the blood of the lamb protected the Children of Israel from physical death, so the Blood of Jesus protects us from spiritual death if we ask Him into our hearts.