Lifesaving Stations (Hebrews 11:28)

“Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.” (Hebrews 11:28, AV)

I currently live on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Here we have a beautiful, but sometimes treacherous coastline. When the winds kick up from the right direction, the surf can become very dangerous. In the 1800’s, Outer Banks Life Saving Service stations were constructed up and down the coastline to assist ships crews that ran aground due to storms and others problems. There are many stories of the heroism of the crews who occupied these stations. One of these stations is down the road just a bit and used as a center for our summer lifeguards who have rescued many that were caught in rip currents. Well trained people along the coast have been responsible for saving many from the 1800’s until today.

The author of Hebrews speaks of Moses’ as a hero of faith in saving the lives of the first born of the Hebrews. He takes his readers back to the act that initiated the Passover. Prior to this event, the Lord brought nine plagues upon Egypt in order to move Pharaoh to release the Hebrews. Pharaoh’s continued refusal led to the tenth plague, the death of every firstborn in Egypt (Exod 11:4-6). The Lord instructed Moses regarding this plague and the steps necessary to protect the firstborn.

The Lord gave a lengthy and detailed set of instructions to Moses. I will not cover all the detailed instructions here. You can read them in the twelfth chapter of Exodus. In short, the Lord told Moses to have every household take a lamb without spot or blemish on the tenth day of the month. Then on the fourteenth day they were to slaughter it at twilight. Then they were to take the blood drained from the animal and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the home. That night they were to eat the animal being prepared to leave from Egypt. They were to stay inside until morning. After Moses communicated this, “the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded” (Exodus 12:28, AV).

That evening, the Lord swept through Egypt and struck every firstborn of Egypt with death, except for those whose homes had the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and lintels. The firstborn in these homes were delivered from the plague of death. Thus, all the firstborn of the Hebrews were saved from death, while all the firstborn of the Egyptians were not. Moses’ faith caused him to believe God and communicate this to the Hebrews. Through his faith, all the Hebrews also believed and obeyed. Moses’ faith ultimately saved the firstborn of the Hebrews and resulted in their deliverance from Egypt.

As a young man, I dreamt of being a lifeguard and saving people from peril. However, my swimming skills were never quite up to the challenge. Yet, we can all be lifesavers. The reason is that we have been covered by the blood of the spotless Lamb of God, Jesus. Thus, just as Moses took the message of deliverance to the nation of Israel, we can take the message of deliverance to those around us. In this way, we can all serve the Lord.

Our local church is a lifesaving station and we who believe are the crews assigned to it. We are commissioned to serve as lifesavers in the Lord’s local lifesaving station.