Mark 15:33, KJV: “And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.”
The sixth hour is noon; the ninth hour is 3:00 p.m. Jesus has been on the cross since the third hour: 9:00 a.m. (Mark 15:25). At 3:00 p.m., Jesus will die. Some scholars believe at the same time Jesus dies on the Cross on the other side of the city, the priests will slaughter the lambs for the Passover meals of the people who live in Judea. Other Scholars believe that the very moment Jesus is being nailed to the Cross the Passover Lambs are being killed.
Scripture often marries Darkness as a Judgment prelude to a new creation. Before the earth is fashioned we read that “darkness covered the deep.” Soon following we see God’s new creation coming to pass.
Darkness was the ninth Judgment plague God put on the Egyptians (Exodus 10:21–29). The darkness enveloped Egypt for three days; in the death of the Lord Christ, it lasts three hours. Soon Israel would be released as God’s new creation people.
As God took the firstborns of the Egyptians to secure the rescue of His people the Israelites, God now accepts the death of His own Firstborn as a “ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). In each case, however, judgment typified by darkness is the prelude to deliverance.
In Isaiah 60:2 we read, “For behold, darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness is over the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you, and His glory will appear over you.”
With the death of Christ, the darkness covering the earth serves as a metaphor for the judgment darkness covering the nations. However, three days hence the LORD will rise and His glory will appear and with His glory, the new creation is established.
