The Jews took lambs into their homes, just as they had been told to do. It was Shabbat. Everything was peaceful and calm... until the Egyptians found out what was going on! They were so angry, they wanted to kill the Jews. But HaShem protected the Jews on that great Shabbat, and miraculously, not one Jew was harmed.
HaShem commanded the Jews to stay inside their homes all night. At exactly the stroke of midnight, HaShem came down with an army of thousands of destroying malachim (angels) to bring about the final plague against the Egyptians -- the killing of the firstborn.
But HaShem saw the sign of the lamb's blood on the doorposts of the Jewish homes, and He "passed over" them and no Jew was harmed. (That's where we get the name for the holiday: Pasach means "pass over.")
Paraoh awoke to the sound of crying in the middle of the night. When he saw what was going on in every Egyptian house, he was afraid for his own life -- he was himself a firstborn child!
Paraoh woke his servants and they all ran frantically to Goshen to find Moshe and Aharon. "Where does Moshe live? Where does Aharon live?" Paraoh shouted to everyone he could find. Paraoh had to look for a long time... because everyone he asked gave him a different answer. Paraoh didn't think that was very funny!
Finally, he found Moshe and Aharon. "Go! Go! Get out of Egypt! All of you! Take your children, your animals... just GO! And please, pray to HaShem that He should let me live!"
"Yes, we will go -- but not in the middle of the night. We'll leave first thing in the morning."
They packed up the leftover matzah and marror, wrapped in their clothes so they could carry it on their backs, and they made dough for bread.
When morning came, they had to move fast. The dough they had prepared for the trip had not had time to rise. It remained half-baked, leaving the Jews with plenty of matzah (flat, crispy, round bread) for their journey out of Egypt.
