Exodus — Chapter 13

Sanctify unto me every firstborn that openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: for it is mine. Lapide explains that the consecration of the firstborn was established as a perpetual memorial of the night when God spared Israel's firstborn while slaying Egypt's. In the theological order, it signifies that the first and best of all things belong to God. He notes that Christ as the Firstborn of Mary, the firstborn of every creature (Col. 1:15), is the ultimate fulfillment of this law.

And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying: This is what the Lord did to me when I came forth out of Egypt. The Passover was designed for catechetical transmission across generations: the father explains to the son, the son to his children. Lapide stresses the importance of religious education in the home as the primary school of faith. He cites Augustine (Conf. I): the faith first received from a mother's teaching takes root most deeply. The domestic liturgy of the Passover narrative (Haggadah) is the model for Christian family catechesis.

And when Pharaoh had sent out the people, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearer: thinking lest perhaps they would repent when they saw wars arise against them, and would return to Egypt. God chose the longer, harder route deliberately. Lapide reflects: the shortest route to the Promised Land was not the safest for souls still immature in virtue. God in His providence assigns to each soul the length and difficulty of trial proportionate to its spiritual growth—what seems a detour is often the direct path to the goal. He cites Augustine (De Civ. Dei I): God's apparent delays are not inefficiency but pedagogy.

And the Lord went before them, to shew the way by day in a pillar of cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire, that he might be the guide of their journey at both times. Lapide identifies the angel in the cloud as a theophany of the Second Person, who guides His Church through history. He follows Ambrose (De Sacr. II) that the column of fire is a figure of Christ (\"I am the light of the world,\" Jn. 8:12) and the column of cloud is a figure of the Holy Spirit, whose overshadowing (obumbratio) both guides and sanctifies. The column protected Israel from the desert heat, expanded itself to cover the entire camp, and served simultaneously as warmth and guidance—types of the grace of the Holy Ghost.