The Torah reading Bo (“come”) covers Exodus 10:1-13:16.
When we observe the commandments of God, we are like the flatbread: nothing added, nothing taken out. In this discussion on the Torah reading Bo (“come,” Exodus 10:1-13:16), we learn are not to add to God’s commandments and we are not to treat any traditions we keep on the same level as God’s commandments. Matzot gives you life but it also give you some affliction and difficulty. God’s mitzvot are the same, they give us life but they also bring some difficulty to life.
As the 10th plague was set to begin against the first-born children and livestock of Mitsraim (Egypt), God told Moshe (Moses) the month with Pesakh (Passover) and the Exodus would be the beginning of Yisra’el’s year (Ex. 12:2). God told Moses of the particular rituals that are to happen during this first month, called Aviv (Ex. 12:3–11). This was relayed to them at the beginning of the month, a couple of weeks before the final plague.
There are particular housekeeping rituals that had to be done in advance as well. A particular goat or lamb had to be chosen, leavened items were to be removed from the home, etc. Moses gave all these instructions to the elders of Israel to help them prepare.
The plague against the firstborn seems harsh because the innocent died because of the faults of the leadership of Mitsraim (Egypt). However, like with the life of Yosef (Joseph), that plague is a foreshadowing of the future death of an innocent Firstborn, Yeshua the Messiah.
The exile of the Israelites in the land of Egypt comes to a climatic end with the 10th plague — the death of the firstborn — and the first Passover, or Pesakh in Hebrew.