The Day of Atonement – When Sin Was Covered
Once a year, on the tenth day of the seventh month, all Israel held its breath. The high priest entered alone into the Most Holy Place—past the veil, into the presence of God, carrying blood to make atonement for the nation’s sins. If God accepted the offering, Israel would live another year under divine favor. If not, the high priest would die behind the veil, and judgment would fall. This was Yom Kippur—the Day of Atonement—the most solemn day on Israel’s calendar.
The Day Unlike Any Other
On this day, all work ceased. Every Israelite was commanded to “afflict his soul”—to fast, pray, and confess sins. No labor, no meals, no ordinary activities. The entire nation focused on one question: Would their sins be covered for another year?
The high priest spent the week before in preparation, reviewing every detail of the ceremony, rehearsing each movement. On the day itself, he bathed, changed into special white garments (not his usual ornate robes), and began the most dangerous work any man could perform—approaching the holy God on behalf of sinful people.
Three animals were central to the ceremony: a bull for the priest’s own sin offering, and two goats for the people. The goats were selected by lot—one for the LORD, one for Azazel (the scapegoat). The parallel goats represented two aspects of the same atonement: one would die, one would live; one would satisfy God’s justice, one would remove the people’s guilt.
Blood Before the Mercy Seat
First, the high priest sacrificed the bull for his own sins. A sinful priest needed cleansing before he could offer cleansing for others. He filled his hands with incense and carried coals from the altar into the Holy of Holies, creating a cloud of smoke to cover the mercy seat—lest he see God’s glory directly and die.
Then came the critical moment. The priest took blood from the bull and sprinkled it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat seven times. The mercy seat was the golden lid of the Ark of the Covenant, overshadowed by the cherubim—the throne of God’s presence. Blood must be presented there if atonement was to be made.
Next, he killed the first goat—the one chosen by lot for the LORD—and brought its blood into the Most Holy Place, sprinkling it on and before the mercy seat as he had done with the bull’s blood. Now atonement had been made for both priest and people. God’s justice was satisfied by substitutionary death.
The Scapegoat
But the ceremony was not complete. The living goat—the scapegoat—remained. The high priest placed both hands on its head and confessed “all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat” (Leviticus 16:21).
The goat was then led into the wilderness “unto a land not inhabited” (Leviticus 16:22). It carried the sins of the people far away, never to return. The sins were not merely covered but removed—borne away to a place of no return.
Here were two pictures of one redemption: the first goat died to satisfy divine justice; the second goat lived to remove human guilt. Both were necessary to complete the picture. Sin required both payment and removal, both propitiation and expiation.
The Shadows and the Substance
The Day of Atonement was repeated every year—year after year, century after century. This repetition proved its insufficiency. “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). The annual ceremony reminded Israel that sin was serious, but it could not actually remove sin permanently.
The book of Hebrews presents Christ as the fulfillment of everything the Day of Atonement pictured. He is both the perfect high priest and the perfect sacrifice. He offered not animal blood but His own blood. He entered not an earthly tabernacle but heaven itself. His offering needs no repetition because it accomplished what all those animal sacrifices could never achieve.
“But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands… Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Hebrews 9:11-12).
Our Great High Priest
The Levitical high priests were sinful men who had to offer sacrifice for themselves before they could represent the people. They grew old and died, requiring successors. They could enter the Holy of Holies only once a year, emerging quickly lest they perish in God’s presence.
Christ is a high priest “who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself” (Hebrews 7:26-27).
Jesus had no sin requiring atonement. He offered Himself willingly, not under compulsion. He entered heaven itself—the true Holy of Holies—with His own blood. And He sat down at God’s right hand, indicating His work was finished. No Levitical priest ever sat in the tabernacle; there was no chair, because the work was never done. Christ sat down because His priestly work of sacrifice was complete.
The Blood That Speaks
What did Christ’s blood accomplish? “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14). Animal blood covered sin externally; Christ’s blood cleanses the conscience internally.
The blood on the mercy seat spoke of death accomplished. The scapegoat bearing sins away spoke of guilt removed. In Christ, both are fulfilled. His death satisfies God’s justice—propitiation. His bearing our sins removes our guilt—expiation. The dual symbolism of the two goats finds its unity in the one sacrifice of Christ.
“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). Like the scapegoat disappearing into the wilderness, our sins have been carried away never to be found. God will remember them no more (Hebrews 8:12). The confession placed on the goat’s head has been transferred to Christ, and He has borne it out of sight forever.
The Veil Torn
When Christ died on the cross, “the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom” (Matthew 27:51). The barrier that kept humanity from God’s presence was removed. What the high priest could do once a year under strict conditions, every believer can now do at any moment—enter directly into God’s presence.
“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh” (Hebrews 10:19-20). Christ’s body was the veil—torn, broken, opened—so that we might pass through into intimate fellowship with God.
We need no human priest to intercede for us. We need no annual ceremony to renew our standing. We have “an high priest over the house of God” who lives forever to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25). The Day of Atonement has become every day—constant access, continuous fellowship, complete acceptance through Christ.
The Coming Day
The Day of Atonement also looked forward to a future reality. On that day, the high priest emerged from the tabernacle having completed his work—and the people knew they were accepted for another year. Israel watched and waited for the priest to reappear.
Christ, our High Priest, has entered heaven with His blood. He is now interceding for His people. But one day He will emerge—not to deal with sin again, but to bring final salvation to those who wait for Him. “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:28).
The church waits like Israel waited—watching for the High Priest to emerge. When He appears, our redemption will be complete. Bodies will be raised, creation will be renewed, and we will enter the eternal presence of God, no longer by faith but by sight. The Day of Atonement finds its final fulfillment in the day of Christ’s return.
The Invitation
The Day of Atonement declares that sin is serious—so serious that only death can satisfy divine justice. But it also declares that God has provided a way of atonement—a substitute to die in our place, a means to carry our sins away forever.
That substitute is Jesus Christ. He is both the sacrifice and the high priest who offers it. He is both the goat that dies and the goat that carries sin away. His one offering accomplishes eternally what all the Day of Atonement ceremonies could only picture temporarily.
Have you entered into this atonement? Have you trusted Christ’s blood to cleanse your conscience and satisfy God’s justice? The veil is torn; the way is open; the High Priest has entered heaven itself and opened the door for all who come through Him. This is not a day to afflict your soul in fear but a day to rejoice in completed redemption. Christ has atoned—fully, finally, forever. Come boldly to the throne of grace and find mercy in your time of need.