“6 Passover Symbols That Might Change How You Look at Easter,” Liahona, April 2018
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6 Passover Symbols That Might Change How You Look at Easter
As we remember the symbolism of the Passover, our understanding and joy for the reality of the Resurrection will deepen.
I love Easter, a holiday that commemorates Jesus Christ freeing the children of God from the bondage of death and hell.
But 1,500 years before the Resurrection, a similar holy day commemorated Jehovah freeing of the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt.
Easter remembers the Savior’s atoning sacrifice; Passover foreshadowed it. Together, they can deepen our understanding of the Resurrection. Below are just a few connections between Passover and Easter:
Passover |
Easter |
1. Passover centered on the paschal lamb, a male without blemish (see Exodus 12:5), with no broken bones (see Exodus 12:46). |
1. Jesus is the Lamb of God (see John 1:29), free from sin with no broken bones (see John 19:36). |
2. Unleavened bread, free of corruption (see Bible Dictionary, “Leaven”), accompanied the Passover feast (see Exodus 12:8, 15). |
2. Jesus is the Bread of Life, in whom there is no impurity (see John 6:35). |
3. Bitter herbs, a symbol of the Israelites’ bondage, accompanied the Passover feast (see Exodus 12:8). |
3. We may be subject to the bondage of sin, but because Jesus drank the bitter cup (see D&C 19:18), we can overcome through His Atonement (see 1 Corinthians 15:22). |
4. The Passover feast was to be eaten in haste (see Exodus 12:11). |
4. The Savior’s body was prepared in haste for burial (see John 19:31). |
5. Believers who painted the blood of the lamb on their door frames were saved from physical death (see Exodus 12:7, 13). |
5. Believers who “apply the atoning blood of Christ” (Mosiah 4:2) to their lives through repentance and sacred ordinances can be saved from both spiritual and physical death. |
6. The day after the firstborn were slain, freedom was declared to the captive Israelites (see Exodus 12:29–32). |
6. The day after the Firstborn of the Father was slain, Jesus declared freedom to those captive in the Spirit World (see D&C 138:18, 31, 42). |