The fourth cup continues with the wedding imagery. The Cup of Protection is based on the last promise in Exodus 6: “I will take you as my people and I will be your God…” This Hebrew expression “take you as my people” is the same phrase used even today in Jewish weddings to speak of the marital union. In the ancient world, at the time of the betrothal, the groom handed a cup of wine to the bride to be and said, “This is the cup of a new covenant I make with you today; I will not drink of this cup again until I drink it with you in my father’s house.” One will quickly recognize these words as the words Jesus used when he presented this cup to the disciples. When we take this cup, we are saying “Yes!” to Jesus’s proposal to covenant relationship.
Additionally, it is eerily powerful to consider that Jesus says he will not drink this cup, passing on the Cup of Protection in the moments before his betrayal and ultimate death. We can imagine his disciples pleading with him to drink of God’s protection, but Jesus says, “Not tonight.”