The Bloody Center of Everything Text: Leviticus 16:15-19
Introduction: God's Appointed Mess
We live in a tidy age. We like our religion to be neat, our worship services to be polished, and our theology to be shrink-wrapped. We prefer our crosses to be gold-plated and empty, not splintered and stained. But the Bible, and Leviticus in particular, will not allow us this sanitary distance. We come today to the very heart of the Old Testament, the Day of Atonement, and what we find there is not a lecture, not a feeling, but a torrent of blood. It is a divinely orchestrated slaughterhouse, a mess of gore and grace that is designed to shock us out of our polite, domesticated Christianity.
Modern sensibilities recoil at this. It seems primitive, barbaric, and frankly, a bit much. But if we are embarrassed by this, it is only because we have forgotten the true nature of our predicament. We have domesticated sin. We think of it as a mistake, a flaw, a bad habit. We see it as something to be managed with therapy or self-help. But God sees sin as high treason, as cosmic rebellion, as a filth so profound that it pollutes not only our souls, but the very ground we walk on and the holy places where He has condescended to dwell. Sin is not a smudge that can be wiped away with a damp cloth. It is a capital crime, and the penalty is death. The blood in this chapter is God's graphic, visceral object lesson about the cost of our rebellion. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. Period.
The Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, was the one day of the year when the high priest, after extensive purification for his own sins, could enter the Holy of Holies. This was the epicenter of God's presence on earth. To enter was to risk immediate incineration. This chapter is the liturgical climax of the entire sacrificial system. It is the day the spiritual books for the nation were balanced. And it all hinges on blood. The blood of a bull for the priest, and the blood of a goat for the people. This blood is not just a symbol of death; it is a symbol of life wrongfully taken, and then offered back to God as a substitute. It is a picture of a violent, substitutionary death that cleanses and reconciles. What we are about to read is not just a description of an ancient ritual. It is a detailed schematic of the cross. It is the gospel in gore.
The Text
"Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull. And he shall sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. So he shall make atonement for the holy place because of the uncleanness of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their uncleanness. Now when he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, no one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household and for all the assembly of Israel. Then he shall go out to the altar that is before Yahweh and make atonement for it. And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar on all sides. With his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times and cleanse it and set it apart as holy from the uncleanness of the sons of Israel."
(Leviticus 16:15-19 LSB)
Blood on the Mercy Seat (v. 15)
The ritual for the people mirrors the ritual for the priest, but with a crucial distinction.
"Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull. And he shall sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat." (Leviticus 16:15)
First, the goat is slaughtered. This is not a peaceful passing. It is a violent death. The life is in the blood, and the blood must be poured out. This goat was chosen by lot; it was God's choice. And it was for the people. This is substitution. The goat dies so the people do not. Its life for theirs. This is the logic of the gospel from the beginning.
Then the high priest takes this blood, the evidence of a life laid down, and goes "inside the veil." This is the most dangerous place on the planet, the Holy of Holies, where God's manifest presence dwelt above the Ark of the Covenant. Inside that Ark were the tablets of the Law, the standard of God's perfect righteousness that Israel had shattered into a million pieces. Above the Ark was the mercy seat, the golden lid, the throne of God. When God looked down from His throne, He saw the Law that condemned the people.
But on this day, the high priest sprinkles the blood of the substitute on that mercy seat. The blood is interposed between the holy God and His broken Law. The blood does not abolish the Law; it satisfies it. It covers the sin. The word for mercy seat is kapporet, from the same root as the word for atonement. It is the place of propitiation. The blood turns the throne of judgment into a throne of grace. When God looks down now, He sees the blood of the substitute and His wrath is satisfied. This is not God ignoring sin; it is God judging sin in the person of the substitute, so that He might justly forgive the sinner. This is what the author of Hebrews is talking about when he says that Christ entered the true Holy Place, not with the blood of goats, but with His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12).
Cleansing the Polluted Sanctuary (v. 16)
Verse 16 reveals a staggering reality about the nature of our sin.
"So he shall make atonement for the holy place because of the uncleanness of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their uncleanness." (Leviticus 16:16)
Notice what is being atoned for here. It is not just the people, but the holy place itself. Our sin is so toxic, so polluting, that it defiles everything it touches. The Israelites' sin did not stay neatly contained within their own hearts. It seeped out and contaminated the tabernacle, the very dwelling place of God. Think of it like spiritual radiation. Their constant "uncleanness," their "transgressions," and "all their sins" created a toxic spiritual environment that desecrated God's house.
This is a profound theological point. God is holy, which means He is separate from sin. He cannot dwell in the midst of filth. For God to continue to "abide with them in the midst of their uncleanness," that uncleanness had to be ritually purged once a year. The blood of the goat did not just cover the people; it decontaminated the sanctuary. It was a spiritual fumigation. This is why the blood was sprinkled on the furniture. It was a cleansing agent.
This has a direct application for us. The New Testament tells us that we, the church, are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). When we sin, we are not just breaking rules. We are defiling the temple. We are grieving the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. Our sin pollutes the sanctuary. This is why confession and repentance are so vital. It is the application of the cleansing blood of Christ to our defiled hearts, purging our consciences from dead works to serve the living God (Hebrews 9:14).
The Solitary Mediator (v. 17)
This verse underscores the unique role of the high priest as the sole mediator.
"Now when he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, no one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household and for all the assembly of Israel." (Leviticus 16:17)
The work of atonement is a solitary work. The high priest goes in alone. No one can help him. No one can accompany him. The salvation of the people rests entirely on his shoulders. If he fails, they all perish. The entire assembly of Israel stands outside, waiting, hoping that the atonement will be accepted and that he will come out alive. Their fate is in his hands.
This is a stunningly clear picture of the work of Christ. When Jesus made atonement for us, He did it alone. "He has trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples there was no one with Him" (Isaiah 63:3). Peter could not help Him. The disciples could not help Him. You cannot help Him. Our salvation does not depend on our efforts plus Christ's sacrifice. It depends on Christ's sacrifice alone. He is the one Mediator between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5). He went into the true holy place, into death and judgment, by Himself. And He came out alone in the resurrection, having secured a perfect atonement for His people. We do not contribute to our salvation; we are the beneficiaries of His solitary work.
Cleansing the Altar of Approach (v. 18-19)
Having cleansed the innermost sanctuary, the priest now moves outward to cleanse the place of worship.
"Then he shall go out to the altar that is before Yahweh and make atonement for it. And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar on all sides. With his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times and cleanse it and set it apart as holy from the uncleanness of the sons of Israel." (Leviticus 16:18-19)
He comes out from the Holy of Holies to the bronze altar in the courtyard, the place where the daily sacrifices were made. This altar was the people's point of approach to God. It was where their gifts were offered. And this too had been polluted by their sin. So the priest applies the blood of both the bull (for the priesthood) and the goat (for the people) to the horns of the altar. The horns represented the power and authority of the altar. To apply blood here was to reconsecrate its power for its intended purpose.
He then sprinkles the blood on the altar seven times. Seven is the biblical number of perfection and completion. This act thoroughly cleanses and sanctifies the altar. It is set apart "as holy from the uncleanness of the sons of Israel." Why is this necessary? Because if the altar is defiled, then every sacrifice offered on it is defiled. The people's very worship becomes an abomination. Before they can offer acceptable worship to God, the place of worship must first be cleansed by the blood of the atonement.
The lesson for us is crystal clear. We cannot approach God on our own terms. We cannot bring our worship, our good works, our prayers, and expect them to be accepted if the altar of our heart has not first been cleansed. The only thing that makes our worship acceptable is the blood of Jesus Christ. It is His blood that cleanses our hearts and purifies our consciences, so that we can draw near to God. As the writer to the Hebrews says, "Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus... let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience" (Hebrews 10:19, 22). The blood of Christ does not just save us from hell; it sanctifies our every act of worship.
Conclusion: The Finished Work
This bloody, messy ritual at the center of Israel's life was a shadow. It was a placeholder. It had to be repeated year after year after bloody year, which was its built-in deficiency. The blood of goats and bulls could never truly take away sin (Hebrews 10:4). It could only cover it, pushing the debt forward, awaiting the final payment.
And that payment was made on a hill outside Jerusalem. Jesus Christ is our great High Priest. But unlike Aaron, He did not have to offer a sacrifice for His own sin, for He had none. And He did not enter a man-made sanctuary with the blood of a goat. He entered the heavenly sanctuary, the very presence of the Father, with His own precious blood. He is both the Priest and the Sacrifice. He is the slaughtered goat. His blood was sprinkled on the heavenly mercy seat, satisfying the demands of God's holy law forever.
His blood cleanses not a tent in the wilderness, but us, His living temple. He made atonement alone, so that we would never be alone again. He cleansed the altar, so that now our lives, offered up to Him as living sacrifices, can be holy and acceptable to God. The work is finished. The blood has been shed. The veil has been torn in two. The way into the holiest of all is now open. Therefore, let us draw near.