¹³ For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh …

The study of typology ascends to its zenith when comparing the sacrificial system of the Jews to the person of Christ. We have studied so far how the high priesthood and the tabernacle picture Him. Now we consider sprinkling of blood which was part of the sacrificial worship system.

To our modern, isolated minds, a little bit of imagination produces a horrific image of splattered blood. That body fluid was not just incidental to the death of the “goats and bulls” but was central, being splashed around the altar and at times on the officiating priest. It is no exaggeration to say it was a bloody mess (see Leviticus 3-4), by today’s standards quite barbaric.

First of all we must put the physical act into perspective. Years ago, while visiting a small town in Tibet, I came across a group of women on the side of the main street butchering a cow. That didn’t seem barbaric, but more simply a fact of life for those people. Death was a part of life, and out in the open for them. Not so much for us in our modern, western world. Most of us are insulated from first hand observations of death in animal slaughter-houses. We eat the meat that comes to us via the butcher store or nearest grocery outlet, neatly packaged and refrigerated.

Israel was to bring the slaughtering of animals into the worship place! Why make a big deal out of sprinkling the blood? Because throughout the Bible, blood had a special significance. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement” (Lev 17:11).

The sprinkling of the blood (and the ashes of a heifer from a burnt offering) connects with the concept of “cleansing.” Sin defiles the soul the way dirt defiles the body. Sprinkling blood was God’s way of cleansing the person spiritually, giving them back spiritual life, as it were. This was a figurative, or outward cleansing. For example, a man might have disobeyed the Law outwardly, and then made a sacrifice to God. The outward transgression was forgiven, but that would not address the inward conscience. Jesus, endorsing this distinction in the Sermon on the Mount, said, “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court” (Mt 5:21–22a).

Lord, You know the thoughts and the intents of the heart and only the law placed in our hearts can deal with those things. In Christ, I am fully clean.