Exodus 12:46 instructs Israel that the bones of the Passover sacrifice were not to be broken. In the original Passover regulations, this requirement concerned the proper treatment and integrity of the sacrificial animal. By itself the command does not announce that a future Messiah would be crucified without broken bones.

John 19:31-36, however, gives the command a direct Christological application. Roman soldiers broke the legs of the two men crucified alongside Jesus, but when they came to Jesus they found that He was already dead and did not break His legs. John then states that this occurred so that Scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken." The evangelist thereby invites the reader to understand Jesus' death through Passover imagery. Christ is presented as the true Passover sacrifice, and even this detail of His crucifixion corresponds to the pattern established in Exodus.