The Old Testament is filled with events, institutions, sacrifices and promises that prepare the way for Jesus Christ. The Old Covenant was not an isolated system of religion, but part of God's Divine Economy, His unfolding plan to restore humanity to communion with Himself. The Law, the priesthood, the Temple, the sacrifices and the feasts all pointed beyond themselves to the fulfillment that would come in Christ. One of the clearest examples is the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, described especially in Leviticus 16 and mentioned among Israel's appointed holy days in Leviticus 23:27–28.
The Day of Atonement, also known as Yom Kippur, was the most solemn holy day of all the Israelite feasts and festivals, occurring once a year on the tenth day of Tishri, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar.
The ritual centered upon the high priest, who entered the Most Holy Place on behalf of the people. He could not enter whenever he wished, but only according to God's command and at the appointed time. Before approaching the sanctuary, he had to wash and put on the prescribed garments. He first offered a bull as a sin offering for himself and his household, acknowledging that even the high priest needed purification. This itself pointed forward to Christ, who would be the true High Priest, yet unlike the priests of the Old Covenant, He would be completely holy and without sin.
Two goats were then presented for the people. One was offered as a sin offering, and its blood was brought into the sanctuary. The blood was sprinkled in the Most Holy Place, making atonement for the uncleanness and transgressions of Israel. The other goat, commonly called the scapegoat, had the sins of the people symbolically confessed over it and was then sent away into the wilderness. Through these two actions, the ritual presented two dimensions of atonement: sin required cleansing and atonement and sin also needed to be removed from the people.
These rituals were not the final solution to sin. They were signs pointing forward to something greater. The Letter to the Hebrews explains that the sacrifices of the Old Covenant were shadows of the reality fulfilled in Christ. The blood of animals could not ultimately perfect the human conscience or permanently remove sin. The sacrifices had to be repeated because they anticipated a sacrifice that had not yet been offered.
That perfect sacrifice is Jesus Christ.
The contrast is profound.
Christ is the fulfillment of the high priest. Unlike Aaron and the priests who followed him, Jesus did not need to offer a sacrifice for His own sins because He was without sin. He did not enter an earthly sanctuary with the blood of an animal. He entered the heavenly reality, offering Himself to the Father for the salvation of the world. As Hebrews declares, Christ entered the sanctuary "by means of his own blood," accomplishing eternal redemption.
The Old Covenant priest stood before God on behalf of the people, but Christ is both Priest and Sacrifice. He is the true High Priest who offers the perfect offering and the offering He gives is Himself. John the Baptist therefore identifies Him as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).
The two goats also help us understand different dimensions of Christ's saving work. The sacrificed goat points toward Christ offering Himself for the sins of humanity. The scapegoat points toward the removal of sin and guilt from God's people. What was symbolically represented in the ritual is accomplished in reality through Christ. He does not merely cover sin temporarily; He deals with sin decisively and opens the way for humanity to be reconciled with God.
This is where the Christian understanding of atonement, propitiation and expiation comes together. Christ's sacrifice is propitiatory because it truly deals with sin and satisfies divine justice. It is expiatory because sin and its defilement are removed. It is redemptive because Christ frees humanity from slavery to sin and death. It is reconciling because it restores communion between God and humanity. These are not competing explanations of the Cross but different aspects of the one saving work of Christ.
The Day of Atonement also points toward the end of the repeated sacrifices of the Old Covenant. Every year, the ritual had to be performed again. Christ, however, offered Himself once for all. His sacrifice does not need to be repeated because He is the perfect and eternal High Priest and His offering is complete. Hebrews therefore contrasts the repeated sacrifices of the Old Covenant with Christ's unique and sufficient sacrifice.
The Day of Atonement was therefore not merely an ancient ritual. It was part of God's Divine Economy, preparing humanity to understand the holiness of God, the seriousness of sin, the need for atonement and the greatness of Christ's saving work.
What was symbolically represented once each year in the Old Covenant was fulfilled perfectly in Jesus Christ. He is the true Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the true High Priest who enters the heavenly sanctuary and the perfect Sacrifice whose offering is once for all.
The Day of Atonement was the shadow. Christ is the fulfillment.
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