And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
2 Sanctify unto me every firstborn that openeth the womb among the children of Israel, as well of men as of beasts: for they are all mine.
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3 And Moses said to the people: Remember this day in which you came forth out of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage, for with a strong hand hath the Lord brought you forth out of this place: that you eat no leavened bread.
4 This day you go forth in the month of new corn.
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5 And when the Lord shall have brought thee into the land of the Chanaanite, and the Hethite, and the Amorrhite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite, which he swore to thy fathers that he would give thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey, thou shalt celebrate this manner of sacred rites in this month.
6 Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day shall be the solemnity of the Lord.
7 Unleavened bread shall you eat seven days: there shall not be seen any thing leavened with thee, nor in all thy coasts.
8 And thou shalt tell thy son in that day, saying: This is what the Lord did to me when I came forth out of Egypt.
9 And it shall be as a sign in thy hand, and as a memorial before thy eyes: and that the law of the Lord be always in thy mouth, for with a strong hand the Lord hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt.
10 Thou shalt keep this observance at the set time from days to days.
11 And when the Lord shall have brought thee into the land of the Chanaanite, as he swore to thee and thy fathers, and shall give it thee:
12 Thou shalt set apart all that openeth the womb for the Lord, and all that is first brought forth of thy cattle: whatsoever thou shalt have of the male sex, thou shalt consecrate to the Lord.
13 The firstborn of an ass thou shalt change for a sheep: and if thou do not redeem it, thou shalt kill it. And every firstborn of men thou shalt redeem with a price.
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14 And when thy son shall ask thee tomorrow, saying: What is this? thou shalt answer him: With a strong hand did the Lord bring us forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
15 For when Pharao was hardened, and would not let us go, the Lord slew every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of man to the firstborn of beasts: therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that openeth the womb of the male sex, and all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.
16 And it shall be as a sign in thy hand, and as a thing hung between thy eyes, for a remembrance: because the Lord hath brought us forth out of Egypt by a strong hand.
17 And when Pharao had sent out the people, the Lord led them not by the way of the land of the Philistines which is near: thinking lest perhaps they would repent, if they should see wars arise against them, and would return into Egypt.
18 But he led them about by the way of the desert, which is by the Red Sea: and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt.
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19 And Moses took Joseph’s bones with him: because he had adjured the children of Israel, saying: God shall visit you, carry out my bones from hence with you.
20 And marching from Socoth they encamped in Etham in the utmost coasts of the wilderness.
21 And the Lord went before them to shew the way by day in a pillar of a cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire: that he might be the guide of their journey at both times.
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22 There never failed the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, before the people.
Tertullian
“For who is really holy but the Son of God? Who properly opened the womb but he who opened a closed one? But it is marriage which opens the womb in all cases. The Virgin's womb, therefore, was especially opened, because it was especially closed.”
Origen
“Therefore let us draw together from the divine Scriptures instances in which we find "holy" used, and discover not only persons but also mute animals that are called "holy," and also find both "the vessels" of the ministry that are called "holy," and the garments which are said to be "holy," and even the places which were located in cities and suburbs and counted as priestly. Indeed, among the brute animals it is commanded through the law that "the firstborn" of calves or cattle be sacrificed to the Lord, and it says, You will not do any work with them because they have been consecrated to the Lord.”
Pseudo-Macarius
“But if man groans and cries out to God, he sends him the spiritual Moses, who redeems him from the slavery of the Egyptians. But man first cries out and groans and then he receives the beginning of deliverance. And he is delivered in the month of new flowers, in the springtime when the ground of the soul is able to shoot forth the beautiful and flowering branches of justification. The bitter winter storms of the ignorance of darkness have passed, as well as the great blindness that was born of sordid deeds and sins.”
Ambrose of Milan
“The law has established that an unclean animal shall not be a part of a sacrifice but in its place a clean animal be offered. The law orders that the offspring of an ass, which is unclean, should be changed for a sheep, which is a clean animal and suitable for sacrifice. This is the literal meaning. If one were to pursue this matter further and seek for the spiritual sense of this passage, he will discover that the ass is a laborious animal, whereas the sheep is productive. This may be interpreted to mean that labor should be exchanged for produce, since the final results of work is the produce thereof. Or we may interpret the passage in this manner: Every action or labor of yours you can make commendable by the pure and simple manner in which you perform it.”
Cassiodorus
“Just as the Jews were saved and extricated through the waters of the Red Sea, so we are delivered from the land of Egypt, that is, from the sins of the flesh, and reborn through regeneration by the sacred water. The very name of the Red Sea is not superfluous. Just as it is known as Red, so the baptismal water can be labeled red, for it came forth mixed with blood from the Lord Savior's side.”
Augustine of Hippo
“Who can doubt that here too God appeared to the eyes of mortal men by a corporeal creature made subject to him and not by his own substance? But it is also not apparent whether it was the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit, or the Trinity itself, the one God. Nor, as far as I can judge, has this distinction been made in that place where it is written: "And the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud, and the Lord spoke to Moses saying, 'I have heard the grumbling of the children of Israel.' "”
Peter Chrysologus
“At one time he appears all aglow in a bush. For you are cold with the perfidy of infidelity, and he wants to enkindle you with the heat of faith. At another time he glows like fire in a pillar extending toward heaven, that the darkness of your ignorance may be removed and that you can follow the way of saving knowledge through the wilderness of this world. At yet another time he is changed for you into a pillar of cloud, in order to restrain the burning ebullience of your passions.”
Gregory the Great
“It was also fitting that a pillar of fire preceded the Israelites as they progressed through the desert during the night and a pillar of a cloud during the day. There is dread in fire but a gentle soothing quality in the sight of a cloud. "Day" is understood to point toward the life of the righteous and "night" that of the sinner. Hence Paul said to sinners who had been converted, "You were once darkness but are now light in the Lord." The pillar was revealed as a cloud during the day and as a fire during the night since almighty God will appear soothing to the righteous and dreadful to the unrighteous. When he comes at the judgment, he will reassure the former by his gentleness and mildness and cause dread in the latter by the strictness of his justice.”
Bede
“The freeing of the children of Israel and their being brought out into the fatherland once promised them is also linked with the mystery of our redemption. By means of it we make our way to the light of the dwelling place on high with the grace of Christ lighting our way and guiding us. That cloud and column of fire that both protected them throughout the whole of their journey from the darkness of the nights and led them by a sure path to the promised homes of the fatherland also prefigured the light of this grace.”