Leviticus 16:1-34

Summary: It’s dangerous for a Holy God to take up residence with a sinful people. Leviticus 16 describes the one day of the year when the only man in Israel could approach the Most Holy Place behind the tabernacle curtain; the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur in Hebrew, which the Jews celebrated on Monday, September 28). The rituals of this day are saturated with symbolism that communicates the desperately needful state of sinners before a Holy God. The animals whose blood was shed, the scapegoat who carried away Israel’s sin, the high priest who approached the throne on behalf of God’s people–all of it was a foreshadowing of the one true Day of Atonement when God himself, in Christ, would shed his blood and die to cleanse his people from sin.