His Only Son might not seem like an obvious Easter film. Though religious in content, it does not portray the events of Christ’s death and resurrection commemorated by Christians on this day. Instead, the movie recounts the biblical story of how God commanded the patriarch Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. The film was released in time for Easter and surprised critics by earning more than $5 million during its opening week.

One might say the same about the 1956 classic The Ten Commandments starring Charlton Heston as Moses and telling the biblical story of the Hebrews’ liberation from Egyptian slavery. Networks traditionally air this film on Holy Saturday — the day before Easter.

For those familiar with how Christians read Scripture, these two films’ Easter placement make perfect sense. Christians see the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus as the focal point of the entire Bible, both Old and New testaments. The New Testament looks back to Jesus. The Gospels tell of Jesus’s birth, life, miracles, and teaching, in addition to his death and resurrection, and the Epistles explain the meaning of Christ and His work.

The Old Testament looks forward to Jesus as the promised Messiah. Its stories and teachings are littered with imagery pointing toward Christ. The entire sacrificial system of ancient Israel declared the need for bloodshed to atone for evil. Best known might be Isaiah’s description of the “suffering servant.” There, the prophet writes, “he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

For Christians, both the stories recounted in The Ten Commandments and His Only Son are dominated by imagery that points to Jesus. In The Ten Commandments, for example, God saves His people from slavery. So, Jesus saves his church from the bondage of sin.

Christians also see parallels in how these liberations take place. God visits His final plague on Egypt in the killing of the firstborn. In establishing the Passover , the Hebrews are spared by placing the blood of a male lamb, one “without blemish,” on the two doorposts and the lintel of their houses.

In similar fashion, Scripture connects sin to death. Death is the central part of the curse God gives for Adam and Eve’s first sin in Genesis 3. St. Paul declares in his letter to the Romans that “the wages of sin is death.” In the first Passover, the blood of another, a lamb, protects the Hebrews. In the New Testament, John the Baptist called Jesus “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” So, on the cross, Christ’s blood shields believers from God’s mortal wrath.

In the story told in His Only Son, God tells Abraham to go out and sacrifice his son, Isaac. Many see in this episode a call to blind faith in God’s commands. But Christians see another element at work. God demands of Abraham his “only son … whom you love” as a sacrifice, itself needed because of human sinfulness. But God ultimately does not require this sacrifice. Instead, God stays Abraham’s hand and provides a ram, caught in a nearby thicket, as the substitute. Isaac is, in a way, raised from the dead.

At the cross, God the Father and God the Son replace Abraham and Isaac. They are the substitute, whereby the Father sacrificed his only Son, dying the death we deserved to spare our lives. Then God raises his own Son three days later. For this reason, His Only Son begins and ends with direct text and images linking its story to the Good Friday and Easter narrative.

Thus, we can see why Christians would flock this Easter to theaters to see His Only Son and gather around the television to watch The Ten Commandments. Both films show how God’s love is woven through all of history. That is a message we need now as much as ever. Happy Easter.

Adam Carrington is an associate professor of politics at Hillsdale College.