What The LORD Passed Over

Exodus 12.23 explains the dynamic of the Passover event:

When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

I've emphasized the words in this verse which state that it is the doorway that the LORD would pass over, in the sense of entering the house and passing through the blood in a sign of covenant kinship.

However, the Scripture uses the idea of passing over in a couple of different ways. In an earlier verse, Exo 12.13, God emphasizes that He will pass over (in the sense of upon) the Israelites themselves (the Hebrew is aleichem, as in the familiar greeting shalom aleichem, Peace be upon you). This meaning of God's passing over is beautifully reiterated in Isaiah 31.5 (NIV):

Like birds hovering overhead,
the LORD Almighty will shield Jerusalem;
he will shield it and deliver it,
he will 'pass over ' it and will rescue it.

Looking back to the original Passover in Egypt, this second idea pictures the LORD passing over each covenant home and hovering there like a great, shielding canopy.

Thank you, LORD!