What did the Passover commemorate?

The Passover is one of the most significant feasts in the Old Testament. It was instituted by God in Exodus 12, on the night before the Israelites were delivered from slavery in Egypt. God instructed each Israelite household to slaughter a lamb and smear its blood on the doorposts of their homes. When the angel of death passed through Egypt to strike down every firstborn, he passed over the houses marked with blood, sparing the Israelites inside.

This event was the climax of God's intervention to free the Israelites from Pharaoh's oppression. Immediately after this final plague, Pharaoh released the Israelites, and they departed Egypt in haste. The Passover therefore commemorates the Exodus from Egypt - the deliverance of Israel from bondage.

The giving of the Law occurred later, at Mount Sinai, after the Israelites had already left Egypt. The crossing of the Jordan happened under Joshua's leadership, a generation after the Exodus. The covenant with Abraham preceded the Egyptian sojourn by centuries. None of these events is what the Passover was established to remember.

Exam tip: The Passover is tied specifically to the departure from Egypt (Exodus 12), not to events at Sinai or the entry into Canaan.