Passover Eve
The Biblical day begins at sunset. If we follow John's chronology, Yeshua and his disciples were settling into the upper room for his Last Seder as the Jerusalem sunset marked the beginning of the 14th day of the first month. In Exodus 12, the Israelites are commanded to kill the Passover Lamb on the 14th day of the 1st month. That meant that the following afternoon the Passover lambs were to be slaughtered in the Temple. This being so, Yeshua's celebration of the Seder is a day early. He hosts his Last Seder a day early so that he and his disciples can have one last Seder together. When the proper time for the Seder arrives the following evening, Yeshua will already be buried.
Time of Slaughter
A short time later, Yeshua is hung on the cross. It is the third hour, 9:00 AM by our reckoning when he is crucified (Mark 15:25).
On that day the Temple was crowded with pilgrims bringing up their lambs for the Passover slaughter. All the priesthood of Israel was also at the Temple for this festival. Because of the great number of lambs to be slaughtered, the afternoon continual offering was performed early.
The Mishnah reports to us, "The daily burnt offering (afternoon) was slaughtered at the 8th hour and a half (2:30) and offered up at the ninth hour and a half (3:30), but on the eve of Pesach it was slaughtered at the seventh hour and a half (1:30) and offered up at the eighth hour and a half (2:30)." (Pesachim 5:1) Thus the slaughter of the Passover Lamb was performed during the ninth hour.
The lambs were killed and their blood applied to the altar in an old-fashioned fire line style. Lines of priests stood ready with gold and silver basins for passing the blood to the altar. Again we turn to the Mishnah for the details.
"An Israelite slaughters the Passover Lamb and a priest received the blood, hands it to his fellow, and his fellow to his fellow, each one receiving a full basin and handing back an empty one. The priest nearest the altar tosses the blood in a single act." (Pesachim 5:6) The Passover lambs were killed in three consecutive waves. While the slaughter was being performed, the Levites in the Temple chanted the Psalms 113-118, the same Hallel which Yeshua and his disciples would have sung the night before (Pesachim 5:1-7).
The Death of the Lamb
When the 9th hour arrived, a long blast of the shofar signaled the Levites began their chanting of the Hallel (Psalms 113-118). The gates to the inner court were opened, and the first crowd of Israelites with their lambs ready rushed in. Within minutes, the clean and spotless courtyard around the altar was stained red with blood. Gutters flowed with red. The base of the altar seemed to bleed, even gush forth as basin after basin of blood was splashed against it in quick succession.
The dead lambs were hung on hooks, forearms spread in a crucifixion pose as they were skinned and prepared for roasting.
The Levites continued chanting the Hallel. The sound of their voices, joined by the voices of the thousands of Pilgrims who had gathered at the Temple, filled the entire city of Jerusalem. Indeed, they were heard outside the walls, a short distance away, where Yeshua had then been hanging on the cross for six hours. As they chanted, "The cords of death entangled me . . . precious in the Sight of the L-RD is the Death for his Righteous Ones . . . Open for me the Gates of Righteousness . . . The stone the builder's rejected has become the capstone," Yeshua died. It was the 9th hour, the very hour at which the Passover lambs were being slain in the temple. Yeshua, the lamb, died.
This is the story of the Exodus and the Passover lamb of Egypt. Paul tells us that Messiah our Pesach has been sacrificed. It is by his blood, applied to the doorposts of our lives that we are spared the fate of the Egyptian firstborn. By his blood, applied to our lives, the last judgment passes over us.
Work Cited: Macoby, Hyam. 1988. Early Rabbinic Writings. Cambridge University Press, Great Britain.