Exodus Chapter 12 Verses 11-13

:11 “And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.”   

“And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S passover.”  On this night the Lord was passing over the houses of the children of Israel, but was executing judgment upon the houses of the Egyptians.  The time of deliverance had come for the children of Israel as they were to soon be free of their bondage in Egypt.  This judgment and deliverance once started would take place swiftly.  They were to be prepared by having their loins girded and their shoes on their feet and their staff in their hand.  In the New Testament we read that we are admonished to put on the whole armor of God.  Part of this armor was to have our loins gird about with truth and to have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.  So long as the children of Israel were in Egyptian bondage there was no haste except where the Egyptians hasted them through force.  Now there haste is being promoted thru a better reason.  The reason is deliverance from Egyptian bondage by the LORD.  They will soon serve the LORD out of love for what he has done for them and no longer serve Pharaoh out of fear about what he might do to them.   

“For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.”  The judgment upon the Egyptians was certain and none would escape.  The firstborn in every house would die that night both of man and of beast.  The LORD predicated that judgment with the statement: “I am the LORD.”  The LORD had promised Moses and the children of Israel that he would execute judgment upon Egypt and rid them out of Egyptian bondage.  Remember, the word “LORD” means a covenant making, covenant keeping God.  God keeps his covenant promises always.  This teaches us the certainty of God’s covenant promise of redemption in Rom. 8:29, 30: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”  The promises that God made to those he foreknew include his promise to them that they would be conformed to the image of Christ; called into spiritual life; justified by the blood of Jesus; and finally glorified in body, soul, and spirit.”  If even a one that God foreknew do not end up conformed to the image of Christ, called, justified, and glorified, then God did not keep his covenant promises.  However, we know that God cannot lie and that he cannot fail.  Thus, the promises are sure. 

And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.”  The LORD was looking for the blood.  That is what made the difference between the children of Israel not suffering the loss of the firstborn and the Egyptians suffering the loss of the firstborn.  If the blood was on the upper door post and the two side posts, then the LORD passed over those houses, but he did not pass over any of the houses of the Egyptians.  The Egyptians were not provided blood.  This passage points us to the doctrine of particular redemption.  The Lord redeemed the elect, but he did not redeem the non-elect.