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Leviticus 11 through 15 portray that man’s contact with people, man’s source, man’s manifestation, and man’s discharge are altogether unclean. These different aspects of human uncleanness all issue from sins. The sinful unclean man before God needs God to take away his sins. However, in the Old Testament the taking away of sins through the redemption of Christ, which God foreordained, was not yet accomplished. Hence, God set up the expiation, the covering of sins, as a symbol of the redemption which was to come. Therefore, after revealing the different aspects of human uncleanness in chapters 11 through 15, chapter 16 presents the expiation prepared by God.
In the Scriptures there is a difference between redemption and expiation. Redemption in the New Testament is the taking away of sins to fully solve the problem of sin for the sinners. This was accomplished by Christ on the cross as the Lamb of God (John 1:29); it was a redemption accomplished once for all (Heb. 9:12). Expiation in the Old Testament was not the taking away of sins but the covering of sins so that they were not seen. According to Hebrews 10:4, expiation in the Old Testament could not take away sins. If expiation had been able to take away sins, there would have been no need for the people to continually offer the sin offering year after year. The repetition of the offering was an indication that the taking away of sins for the accomplishment of redemption had not yet taken place. Therefore, it was necessary for the Lord Jesus to come to die on the cross for our redemption.
The lid of the Ark, which was within the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle in the Old Testament, was the place where God met with His people. Inside the Ark were the two tablets of the Testimony, the two tablets of the law, on which the Ten Commandments were written. Without the lid of the Ark, the commandments on the tablets of the law would have exposed and condemned the sins of the people who came to meet with God, making it impossible for God to meet with sinners. However, the tablets of the law that exposed and condemned the people’s sins were covered by the lid of the Ark with the expiating blood sprinkled on it. Hence, based on the expiating blood on the lid, which pointed to the redemption which was to be accomplished by Christ, God could pass over the sins covered by the lid to meet with man (Rom. 3:25). These covered sins were not taken away; they remained until Christ came. Then they were taken away by the eternal redemption which He accomplished. Therefore, the expiating blood of the bulls and goats on this lid accomplished the covering of sins, not the actual taking away of sins; it is a type of the redemption accomplished by Christ in the New Testament (see Rom. 3:25, footnote 3, Recovery Version).
In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, the word for cover, as in the covering of sins, is translated “place of propitiation.” Actually, this is not a translation but an interpretation. It interprets the covering of sins before God as an appeasing of sins, that is, the appeasing of the problem between man and God so that God could give grace and show favor to man unhesitatingly and unquestionably (see v. 25, footnote 2, Recovery Version).
Leviticus 16:15-19 presents a picture of the accomplishing of expiation, the covering of sins. With the type of the expiation in the Old Testament age, we know how Christ accomplished the taking away of sins in the New Testament age. Let us consider the details in Leviticus 16 and their significance concerning the accomplishing of expiation.
The first step for the accomplishing of expiation was to slaughter the goat of the sin offering for the people (v. 15a). Goats signify sinners (cf. Matt. 25:32-33, 41). We were born sinners, having a sinful nature inwardly and sinful deeds outwardly, and the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Therefore, it is reserved for us to die once (Heb. 9:27). For this reason, in the accomplishing of expiation, man was required to take the goat of the sin offering as his substitute.
The slaughtered goat of the sin offering is a type of Christ, who was made in the likeness of the flesh of sin, being the sin offering for us, the sinners. “God, sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh” when Christ was crucified in the flesh on the cross (Rom. 8:3). When Christ was incarnated (John 1:14), He became one with us in the flesh. He did not know sin, but He was made sin on our behalf to be judged by God and thereby condemned sin in the flesh (2 Cor. 5:21; John 3:14). In Him, that is, in becoming one with Him in His resurrection, we have become the righteousness of God. By this righteousness we, the enemies of God, have been reconciled to God (Rom. 5:10).
The second step for the accomplishing of expiation was to bring the blood of the goat inside the veil and sprinkle it on and before the expiation cover. According to God’s law, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Heb. 9:22). Therefore, the sprinkling of the blood of the goat on and before the expiation cover, which was the lid of the Ark, was for the fulfillment of God’s requirement so that God might have fellowship with the approaching one. By the lid of the Ark, with the expiating blood sprinkled on it, the entire situation of the sinner was fully covered. Therefore, upon this lid God could meet with the people who had broken His righteous law. Since the problem between man and God was appeased, God could forgive and show mercy to man and thereby give grace to man.
The priest was to bring the blood of the goat inside the veil and sprinkle it on and before the expiation cover. This signifies that the blood of Christ was brought into the Holy of Holies in the heavens to accomplish eternal redemption for sinners before God (v. 12). In the Old Testament man’s sins were not taken away; they were merely covered by the blood of the sacrifices, which were types of Christ. In the old covenant the blood of goats only made expiation for people’s sins; it never accomplished redemption for their sins, because it is impossible for the blood of goats to take away sins (10:4). However, Christ as the Lamb of God took away the sin of the world (John 1:29) by offering Himself once for all on the cross as the sacrifice for sins (Heb. 9:14; 10:12). His blood, which He sprinkled in the heavenly tabernacle before God for our expiation, has accomplished an eternal redemption for us, even redemption for transgressions under the old covenant, transgressions that were only covered by animal blood (9:15). Thus, we have been redeemed with the precious blood of Christ (1 Pet. 1:18-19).
“He shall go out to the altar that is before Jehovah and make expiation for it, and he shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on and around the horns of the altar ” (Lev. 16:18). Putting the blood on and around the four horns of the burnt offering altar signifies that the efficacy of the redemption of the blood of Christ is for the four corners of the earth. The blood of the bull was for Aaron and his household, the blood of the goat was for the entire people of Israel, and the four horns of the altar point toward the four directions of the earth. Therefore, putting the blood of the bull and the goat on and around the horns of the altar signifies that the efficacy of the redemption of the blood of Christ is toward the four corners of the earth for the people in every direction of the earth, as the apostle says in 1 John 2:2: “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for those of the whole world.” This shows that the sphere reached by the efficacy of the redemption by the blood of Christ is inclusive and extensive.
The blood of the bull and the goat was not only put on and around the horns of the altar but also sprinkled on the altar seven times (Lev. 16:19a). This signifies that the full efficacy of the blood shed on the cross by Christ is so that the sinner may look at it and be at peace in his heart. When we, as sinners, look at the blood sprinkled on the altar, we know that our sin and sins have been dealt with. Knowing that the problem of sin has been solved, we have peace in our heart.
The blood sprinkled on the altar was for the peace of the sinner, but the blood sprinkled on the expiation cover was for God’s satisfaction. The blood was sprinkled first on the expiation cover within the veil. This was for God to see. It was for His satisfaction. Then the blood was sprinkled on the offering altar in the outer court. This was for the sinner to see. It was for his satisfaction. Both God and man are satisfied through the redeeming blood of Christ.
Leviticus 16:19b tells us that Aaron was to cleanse the altar and “sanctify it from the uncleannesses of the children of Israel.” This signifies that all the world’s sins were gathered upon the cross of Christ and resolved. Uncleannesses here refers to our sin, to our leprosy, to our rebellion, and even to the satanic nature within us. Because the people of God were in this uncleanness, even the altar used by God for the redemption of His people was contaminated. By the cross of Christ this uncleanness has been dealt with and taken away. Now there is a clean situation in which we and God may enjoy each other and have peace with one another.
Man is sinful and unclean before God and needs God to take away his sins. However, in the Old Testament the taking away of sins through the redemption of Christ, which God foreordained, was not yet accomplished. Hence, God set up the expiation as a symbol of the redemption which was to come.
In the Old Testament the two tablets of the Testimony, the two tablets of the law, were placed in the Ark within the Holy of Holies. The Ten Commandments on the two tablets exposed and condemned the sins of the people who came to meet with God, making it impossible for God to meet with the sinners. However, the tablets of the law which exposed and condemned the people’s sins were covered by the lid of the Ark with the expiating blood sprinkled on it. Based upon the redemption which was to be accomplished by Christ and to which the expiation blood on the lid pointed, God could pass over the sins covered by the lid to meet with man. These covered sins were not taken away; they remained until Christ came. Then they were taken away by the eternal redemption which He accomplished. Therefore, on this lid the expiating blood of the bulls and goats accomplished the covering of sins, not the actual taking away of sins.
With the type of expiation we can see how Christ accomplished for the sinners the taking away of sins in the New Testament age. First, the goat was slaughtered as a sin offering for the people, typifying Christ, who was made in the likeness of the flesh of sin, as the sin offering for sinners. Then the blood of the goat was brought inside the veil and sprinkled on and before the expiation cover, signifying that the blood of Christ was brought into the Holy of Holies in the heavens to accomplish eternal redemption for us. Then the blood was put on and around the four horns of the altar and sprinkled on the altar seven times, signifying that the efficacy of the redemption of Christ is for the four corners of the earth and that the full efficacy of the blood of Christ is so that the sinner may look at it and be at peace in his heart. Thus, we and God may enjoy each other and have peace with one another in a clean situation.
