AP

Exodus 12:46  “[The Passover] must be eaten inside one house; take none of the meat outside the house.  Do not break any of the bones.”
As we read the the very detailed instructions  the LORD gave to Moses about the celebration of the Passover, we might wonder why it was required that none of the bones of the Passover Lamb be broken.

Five hundred years later, King David would write in Psalm 22:16-18 – “Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.  I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.  They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”  This is clearly a foreshadowing of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus.  The phrase, “I can count all my bones”, refers to the emaciation of his body on the Cross, but it also has the sense that “all my bones are accounted for”.  We find out from the Gospel accounts that another thousand years later when Jesus is crucified, although the practice of the Romans was to break the leg bones of those crucified in order to hasten their death and not prolong their already lengthy suffering, this was not necessary in the case of Jesus because he was already dead (John 19:33-34 – “But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.  Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.”).

It is not surprising, therefore, that the Old Testament Scriptures that are pointing us to the work of the Promised Messiah/Saviour, especially those referring to his foundational antitype, the sacrificial Passover Lamb, should include the the fact that his bones would not be broken.  This is one of the many factors that confirm our belief that the Gospel of Eternal Salvation was part of God’s original ‘blueprint’ of Creation (cf Revelation 13:8 – “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast – all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world”).

Moreover, the requirement for the Passover to be eaten in ‘one house’ points to its unifying function, anticipating Jesus’ prayer in John 17:11b – “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name – the name you gave me – so that they may be one as we are one.”
– Bruce Christian