The Fenced Table: The Statutes of the Passover Text: Exodus 12:43-51
Introduction: The Welcome Mat and the Wall
We live in an age that despises boundaries. Our culture is allergic to distinctions, definitions, and doors. The spirit of the age wants every wall torn down, every standard erased, and every door thrown open with no guard posted. This manifests itself in our politics, with calls for open borders. It shows up in our ethics, with the blurring of every conceivable line between right and wrong. And it has massively infected the church, creating a squishy, sentimental evangelicalism that wants a Jesus with open arms but no sharp words, a gospel of welcome but no call to repentance, and a communion table that is less a fenced feast for the covenant family and more a public potluck for anyone who wanders in off the street.
But the God of the Bible is a God of order, and order requires distinctions. He creates by separating light from darkness and land from sea. He establishes a covenant people, separating them from the nations. And He institutes sacraments, which are by their very nature covenant signs that draw a line between those who are in and those who are out. The Passover, and by extension the Lord's Supper, is not a free-for-all. It is a family meal, and like any sane family, God has rules about who can sit at His table.
This passage in Exodus lays down the statutes for the Passover. It is a set of divine regulations, what we might call the terms of service for this sacred meal. And what we find here is not a prickly, exclusive legalism designed to keep people out. Rather, we find a glorious, gracious clarity about what it means to be in. God is defining the boundaries of His covenant people at the very moment He is creating them as a nation. He is establishing the visible markers of His family. These rules are not arbitrary; they are theological. They teach us about the nature of the covenant, the meaning of worship, and the way of salvation. And they have everything to do with how we are to approach the Lord's Table today. This is not some dusty Old Testament regulation; this is the blueprint for the central act of Christian worship.
The Text
And Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it; but every man’s slave purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it. A foreign resident or a hired person shall not eat of it. It shall be eaten in a single house; you shall not bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house, and you shall not break any bone of it. All the congregation of Israel shall celebrate this. But if a sojourner sojourns with you and celebrates the Passover to Yahweh, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it. The same law shall apply to the native as to the sojourner who sojourns among you.” So all the sons of Israel did; as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron, thus they did. And on that same day Yahweh brought the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.
(Exodus 12:43-51 LSB)
The Boundary of the Covenant (vv. 43-45)
We begin with the fundamental rule and its immediate qualifications.
"And Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, 'This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it; but every man’s slave purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it. A foreign resident or a hired person shall not eat of it.'" (Exodus 12:43-45)
The first word is a clear prohibition: "no foreigner shall eat of it." The word for foreigner here means a stranger, an alien, someone outside the covenant community of Israel. The Passover is a covenant meal, celebrating a covenant redemption, and it is therefore restricted to the covenant people. This is not about ethnicity or race; it is about covenantal standing. God is establishing that His saving acts are for His people.
But immediately, God shows that this covenant is not a closed, ethnic club. A slave, purchased with money, who is circumcised, may eat of it. Think about this. A man who is chattel, who has no rights in the world, can be brought into the most intimate family meal of God's people. How? Through two things: incorporation into an Israelite household (he belongs to someone) and receiving the sign of the covenant (circumcision). He is no longer considered a "foreigner." His legal and covenantal status has changed. He has been grafted in.
Contrast this with the "foreign resident" or "hired person." These individuals might live and work among the Israelites, but they maintain their distinct identity. They are temporary, transactional relationships. They have not been formally incorporated into the household and the covenant. They are neighbors, not family. Therefore, they are excluded from the family meal. The line is not between Jew and Gentile, or free and slave. The line is between those inside the covenant and those outside of it. The sign of that covenant, at this point in redemptive history, is circumcision.
This has direct application to the Lord's Supper. The Supper is for the covenant people of God. The sign of entrance into that covenant is now baptism. Therefore, the Table is for baptized believers. It is not for the curious seeker, the friendly visitor who admires Jesus, or the unbaptized child of Christian parents. The principle is identical: to come to the covenant meal, you must bear the sign of the covenant. To deny this is to erase the very lines God Himself has drawn.
The Integrity of the Sacrifice (v. 46)
Next, God gives instructions about the manner of eating, which points to a much deeper reality.
"It shall be eaten in a single house; you shall not bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house, and you shall not break any bone of it." (Exodus 12:46 LSB)
The meal is to be eaten "in a single house." This emphasizes the unity of the family and the community. The Passover is a corporate event. You don't take your portion to-go. You eat it together, under one roof, sheltered by the same blood-marked door. This points to the unity of the Church. We partake of one loaf, because we are one body (1 Cor. 10:17). The Lord's Supper is not a private, devotional snack; it is the assembly of the saints, gathered as one household of faith.
Then comes the famous prohibition: "you shall not break any bone of it." On one level, this preserved the wholeness and perfection of the sacrificial lamb. A perfect sacrifice was required. But the Holy Spirit tells us plainly that this was a magnificent piece of foreshadowing. The apostle John, witnessing the crucifixion, sees the Roman soldiers break the legs of the two thieves to hasten their deaths. But when they come to Jesus, they see He is already dead. John writes, "For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, 'NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BROKEN'" (John 19:36).
Jesus is the true Passover Lamb. His sacrifice was perfect, whole, and complete. His death was not an accident, nor was it hastened by the hands of men. He gave up His own spirit when the work was finished (John 19:30). The integrity of the lamb's skeleton pointed to the sovereign control and utter perfection of Christ's atoning death. He was the unblemished Lamb, and His sacrifice was accepted whole by the Father.
The Open Door of the Covenant (vv. 47-49)
Lest anyone think these rules are about keeping people out, God now makes the path for inclusion explicit.
"All the congregation of Israel shall celebrate this. But if a sojourner sojourns with you and celebrates the Passover to Yahweh, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it. The same law shall apply to the native as to the sojourner who sojourns among you." (Exodus 12:47-49 LSB)
First, the command is universal for Israel: "All the congregation...shall celebrate this." This is not an optional holiday. It is a mandatory, identity-forming ordinance. To neglect the Passover was to cut oneself off from the people of God.
But then the door swings open wide. What about a "sojourner," a resident alien who wants to join in? The way is clear. If he wants to celebrate the Passover to Yahweh, he must first be circumcised, along with all the males in his household. Once he has received the sign of the covenant, he is to be treated "like a native of the land." He is fully incorporated. There is no second-class citizenship in the covenant. Once you are in, you are all the way in.
God then reiterates the boundary for emphasis: "But no uncircumcised person may eat of it." This is a non-negotiable. The sign of the covenant is the ticket to the meal. This is followed by a glorious statement of covenantal equality: "The same law shall apply to the native as to the sojourner." God is not a respecter of persons based on bloodline. He is a respecter of covenant. The standards for entry and participation are the same for everyone. The Israelite who refuses circumcision is out, and the Egyptian who embraces it is in. Salvation has always been by grace through faith, and the visible sign of that covenant faith has always been the gateway to the covenant meal.
Obedience and Deliverance (vv. 50-51)
The passage concludes with a simple summary of Israel's response and God's action.
"So all the sons of Israel did; as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron, thus they did. And on that same day Yahweh brought the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts." (Exodus 12:50-51 LSB)
Here we see the proper response to God's Word: simple obedience. "Thus they did." They didn't debate the statutes. They didn't form a committee to discuss whether the rules about foreigners were inclusive enough. They didn't complain that the bit about not breaking bones was peculiar. They simply did what God commanded. And this is the heart of faith. True faith is obedient faith.
And what is the result of this covenantal obedience? Deliverance. "And on that same day Yahweh brought the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt." Their observance of the Passover did not earn their deliverance, but it was the covenantal context in which God acted to deliver them. God saves His people, and His people are those who believe His promises and obey His commands. The two are inextricably linked. God acts to save, and we respond in faith, which is demonstrated by our glad submission to the patterns of worship and life He has established.
Conclusion: Fencing the Lord's Table
So what does this mean for us? It means that the Lord's Table is not a free lunch. It is a fenced table. The principles God established for the Passover apply directly to the Lord's Supper, which fulfills it.
First, the Table is for the covenant community. Just as the foreigner was excluded, so are those who are outside the visible church. This is why we practice church membership. It is the formal recognition of who is in the covenant family.
Second, the way into that community is through the sign of the covenant. For them, it was circumcision. For us, it is baptism. An unbaptized person, no matter how sincere their faith may seem, has not yet obeyed the first command of Christ to a new disciple and should not be admitted to the Supper. The uncircumcised could not eat the Passover; the unbaptized cannot eat the Supper.
Third, the invitation is wide open. Just as the sojourner could be circumcised and become like a native, so anyone from any nation can be baptized into Christ and be welcomed to the feast. Our God is a hospitable God, but He sets the terms of that hospitality. He provides the welcome mat, but He also builds the walls of the house. The way in is clear: repent, believe, and be baptized.
Finally, our participation is an act of obedience that flows from our deliverance. We come to the Table not to be saved, but because we are saved. We come to remember the perfect, unbroken sacrifice of our Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ. We come as a unified body, one household of faith. And we come knowing that the same God who brought Israel out of Egypt by their hosts on that very day has brought us out of the bondage of sin and death, and is leading us to the promised land of the new heavens and the new earth.
Therefore, let us not despise the boundaries God has set. They are not there to be exclusive, but to be protective. They preserve the purity and power of the sacrament. They define the family of God. Let us joyfully submit to His statutes, come to His table on His terms, and celebrate the great deliverance He has accomplished for us in Christ.