Rabbi Roodyn

Rav Hirsch explains that the pasuk ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם, and I shall take you to be a nation for Me (shemos 6:7) defines objective of the exodus.

Hashem was not just interested in creating a religious community to serve Him, rather He intended to create a people, a state and a society. The goal of the redemption was therefore a state whose whole social existence would be rooted in Hashem’s will, fashioned by Him and dedicated to Him. The Korban Pesach was the foundation stone for this state.

The people with whom Hashem built this state were slaves, as such they had no personality and no property. By giving them the mitzvah of Korban Pesach on the 10^th of Nissan, Hashem was conferring upon them personality and property.

By permitting one individual to take a lamb and slaughter it on behalf of others through the legal principle of shlichus, Hashem was declaring that all are equal before him and the Law. This is because the Gemara states that שלוחו של אדם כמותו, a man’s emissary is like himself. This stood in stark contrast to the hierarchical structure of Egyptian society where the lower classes were lorded over by the upper classes.

Once these individuals were empowered and enabled to stand tall, they were then grouped into families, with both ascending and descending ties as we shall explain next time.