Act 3: Atonement Is Made

Then Aaron must slaughter the first goat as a sin offering for the people and carry its blood behind the inner curtain. There he will sprinkle the goat’s blood over the atonement cover.   Leviticus 16:15

After the high priest had dealt with his own sins, he would come back out of the Tabernacle, and all the people would see him again. Then a goat was brought forward and slaughtered, and the high priest took the blood behind the curtain and sprinkled it on the atonement cover.

Remember, the atonement cover was the flat surface on the Ark of the Covenant between the huge golden figures of the cherubim. God’s agents of judgment looked down at the atonement cover where the blood would be sprinkled. When Aaron sprinkled the goat’s blood on the atonement cover (also called the mercy seat), it was as if judgment and mercy were meeting together.

Judgment, which demands death as the penalty for sin, was satisfied; mercy, which demands forgiveness for the sinner, was sustained. Mercy was released in the place of judgment as the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled.

Back in the Garden of Eden, God made it clear that the consequence of sin is death (see Genesis 2:17). That is why blood had to be sprinkled on the atonement cover. The blood demonstrated that a death had taken place. This death would satisfy the justice of God in relation to sin.

After three years of public ministry, Jesus was arrested and sentenced to be crucified. As he was nailed to the cross, his blood was shed and his life poured out. Darkness covered the face of the earth, and he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Mark 15:34). The judgment of God represented by the cherubim fell on him.

When Christ cried out in a loud voice, “It is finished” (John 19:30), the inner curtain in the Temple that surrounded the Most Holy Place was ripped in two from top to bottom (see Mark 15:37-38). Atonement was made by our great High Priest, and a new and living way was opened up into the presence of God!

For further reading, see Hebrews 9