The Blood. Exodus 12:6-10. The main element of Passover was the blood of an innocent victim who took the place of someone condemned to die. The source of the blood was crucial; it had to come from a sinless life. The act of shedding blood was significant because “without the shedding of blood, there is no remission.” The life of the sinless substitute had to be sacrificed to pay “the wages of sin” for the sinner. Even that was not enough because it needed to be applied personally and properly for the blood to be effective.
The blood of the Passover lamb had to be collected in a basin. Then, it had to be personally applied with a hyssop branch to both sides and the top lintel of the outside door. That blood was not only to mark the homes of the Israelites but also to serve as an open testimony that those inside believed in God. They acted by faith in what God had said and done when they followed His instructions in His appointed way. They acknowledged their need for a substitute and took the correct actions to obey God.
That is essential to salvation. We cannot rely on what we think is right or ignore any part of God's word. There is no salvation without recognizing one's need for it. This means a person must admit their own sin and guilt before the holy God. They are condemned. “Repentance toward God” happens when people stop justifying their actions and admit their wrongs. Saying, “I believe in Jesus, therefore I am saved,” is deception. Repentance must come before faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. A truly repentant sinner can personally identify with the publican who said from his heart, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner.”
Our responsibility is then to accept by faith the sacrifice our Lord Jesus Christ made on our behalf when He died in “my” place on the cross and was punished for “my” sins. When we accept that fact, then we accept the Lord Jesus Christ through open confession with our mouths that Jesus is “my” Lord and believe with “my” heart that God raised Him from the dead. God saves a person who admits to their own helplessness and applies the merits of Christ’s death to their soul. That is when we receive the atonement and act on it by faith. “It is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.”