The holiest day on the Jewish calendar is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. According to the Law of Moses, on that day the high priest entered the holiest place in the temple twice, carrying the blood of bulls sacrificed for his own sins and for the sins of the nation of Israel.

“In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Hebrews 9:22

Without God’s forgiveness there was no salvation for the people of Israel, and no hope of heaven. But the blood of bulls, rams, lambs, and goats was not sufficient to cleanse away Israel’s sins forever. As hard as the priests worked to keep the law, their efforts fell short; as soon as the people were forgiven they went and sinned again. The law of the old covenant was good at revealing their sins, but it had no power to save people. The law could only condemn them.

A new covenant was needed, and a new high priest to offer a once-and-for-all sacrifice that would completely cleanse and reconcile repentant sinners to God.

“But in fact, the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.” Hebrews 8:6

Christ is Our High Priest

Jesus was a high priest unlike any who came before him in Israel and he introduced a new covenant accompanied by new promises from God. The writer to the Hebrews quotes from the prophet Jeremiah to explain the “better promises” that are part of the new covenant found in Jesus.

“This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” Hebrews 8:10-12

Before Jesus, the people went to the tabernacle to be led in worship by the priests. Although what they heard touched their hearts and changed them, the law and the sacrificial rites were external to them.

The new covenant Jesus introduced brought the presence of God out of the tabernacle and into the hearts of people. Instead of relying on an earthly priest to reconcile them to the Lord, each person could seek forgiveness and reconciliation with him personally.

 “They will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.”

 God’s law was in their minds and written on their hearts by the Holy Spirit so that . . .

“I will be their God and they will be my people.”

Unprecedented Sacrifice

In order for Jesus to complete the work of reconciling people to God, he had to offer a blood sacrifice.

“Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer.” Hebrews 8:3

The penalty for sin is death and every sinner will pay that penalty if someone else doesn’t die in their place. Under God’s law innocent animals died for sinners, and God accepted them because they symbolized the repentance of the sinners who made the offering.

But human sin is so great that the only acceptable substitutionary sacrifice is another human being who is willing to lay down his own life to atone for people’s sins. This substitute had to be sinless, otherwise he would only be dying for his own sins.

There was only one person who could offer himself as this perfect sacrifice: Jesus Christ, Son of Man and Son of God.

“Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said, ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am – it is written about me in the scroll – I have come to do your will, my God.’” Hebrews 10:5-7

Upon his death, Jesus entered the heavenly tabernacle where God dwells, bringing his own blood as the sacrifice for our sins.

“But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many.” Hebrews 9:26-28

The Holy Places In the Tabernacle

God gave Moses a pattern for the tabernacle and Moses carefully followed it to the last detail because the design was based upon the holy place where God dwells in heaven.

The courtyard outside the tent held the altar where sacrifices were made to atone for sin. The smoke rising from the altar pleased God and reminded him of his people’s reverence for him. Only certain priests were allowed to go beyond the courtyard and enter the tabernacle.

The first room in the tent was lit by a golden lamp stand with seven lamps that were never extinguished. Across from the lamp stand was a golden table with twelve loaves of bread made with fine flour. They represented God’s covenant of perpetual provision for the twelve tribes of Israel. Aaron and his descendants ate this bread each week.

There was a thick curtain between the Holy Place and the Holiest Place and in front of it was a golden table where incense was burned every morning and evening. The incense represented the prayers of the people.

Once a year the high priest entered the Holiest Place and stood before the golden Ark of the Covenant. The ark represented the throne of God in heaven, where the seraphim hover, constantly praising God, and where mercy and favor are dispensed to his people.

No priest dared to enter the holiest place unless he was appointed to go there on the Day of Atonement. God’s holy presence would consume anyone who entered unbidden.

And the tabernacle was the earthly picture of the place God dwells in heaven.

The Cleansing Blood

Everything related to the tabernacle was ceremoniously cleansed by the sprinkling of blood once a year because the people who came there contaminated it with their sins.

“In the same way, [Moses] sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed by blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Hebrews 9:21-22

If people are to enter God’s heaven after their life on earth, a way of cleansing has to be made there, too. No unforgiven person can ever come into God’s holy presence.

“It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence . . . he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Hebrews 9:23-26

When Jesus appeared in heaven after his death on the cross, he presented the one, final, atoning sacrifice that cleanses every repentant sinner and makes them fit to be in God’s presence. People ignore this truth at their peril.

“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only the fearful expectation of judgment and the raging fire that will consume the enemies of God . . . How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” Hebrews 10:26-29

Called to Persevere

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:19-23

Press on, believers! Heaven is waiting for you.