Exodus 12:6
“and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at evening.”
What does Exodus 12:6 mean?
The Israelites were preparing for their escape from Egypt, and God instructed them to select a lamb on the tenth day of the month and care for it for four days before slaughtering it on the fourteenth. This waiting period gave families time to inspect the lamb carefully, ensuring it was perfect and unblemished, which mattered deeply for the sacred meal ahead. When evening came, the whole community would slaughter their lambs together, a coordinated act that bound them as one people about to experience God's deliverance. This practice became the foundation of Passover, a yearly remembrance of how God freed them from slavery.