Exodus 12:11

WEB

This is how you shall eat it: with your waist girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord's Passover.

KJV

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.

Commentary

And thus shall ye eat it,.... After the following manner, in the habit and posture described: the Targum of Jonathan adds,"at this time, and not in ages following;''for these rites were peculiar to the passover in Egypt, and not to be observed in later times: with your loins girded; that is, with their garments girt about their loins, for the better convenience in travelling; for in those countries they wore long loose garments, which reached to their feet, an d unless girt up, were a great hinderance in walking; and may denote the saints being girt with the girdle of truth, and their readiness and fitness to perform every good work: your shoes on your feet; which used to be put off at feasts, in order to have their feet washed, which was frequently done at such times, as we learn from many instances in Scripture, which could not be done unless the shoes were off, Gen 18:4 , besides, it is highly probable that the Israelites in Egypt did not wear shoes in common, it being a hot country, and they in a state of poverty and bondage; but now being about to depart the land, and to take a journey, they are ordered to have their shoes on, to be ready for it: and was a token of their deliverance and freedom, and joy on that occasion; and may, in an evangelic sense, denote the feet of the saints being shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, Eph 6:15 , and your staff in your hand; such as travellers make use of to support and assist, protect and defend them, in their journey, and may be expressive of faith in the word and promises of God, which are the support of his people in their passage through this world, Psa 23:4 . and ye shall eat it in haste; because upon slaying the firstborn the Egyptians would be urgent upon them to depart immediately. Aquila renders it, "with fear", and so the Targum of Jonathan; but the other sense suits best with the circumstances of the Israelites: it is the Lord's passover; which he has commanded, and is a sign and token of his passing over the houses of the Israelites, when he destroyed the firstborn in all the houses of the Egyptians, and which is explained in the following verse, and the reason of its name given; the act of passing was his, the ordinance was appointed by him, and it was typical of the Lord Jesus Christ, the true passover, Co1 5:7 .