This chapter commences by explaining briefly the structure and service of the tabernacle of old, in order to show the contrast between the state of things which existed under the law and that which exists under Christianity. Connected with Judaism there was a system of divine service and a sanctuary on earth. In the tabernacle were two parts—the holy place and the most holy—the veil which separated these was still unrent, and God was not revealed as He is now. Into the first the priests could come at all times, but into the second the High Priest only, and that once a year, with blood and a cloud of incense. The people did not enter in at all. In passing we should notice the expression, "The Holy Ghost this signifying," because it shows the divine origin of the oracles of old: it was the Holy Ghost who, through Moses, gave or indited the law and the Old Testament scriptures, which give us the account of these things in detail.
But the way into the holiest was not yet made manifest, nor could the sacrifices then offered give a purged conscience—they were "carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation." The very force of the contrast to all this, which is to be found in the sacrifice of Christ, only serves to bring out more fully the amazing value of His offering, in its eternal efficacy before God; and the permanence and immutability of the results which flow from it for us. "But Christ," says the Apostle, "being come an High Priest of good things to come"—this latter expression, "good things to come," is wide enough to cover what will be true for Israel in a future day, and what is true for us now. The priest under the Jewish economy ministered unceasingly in a tabernacle made with hands, and presented the blood of bulls and goats, which could not take away sins: but Christ entered in once for all, presenting His own blood, the efficacy and value of which is eternal—a word which characterizes this Epistle. In verse 14, we have one of those verses of Scripture in which the whole Trinity is mentioned. Christ Himself was the Offerer and the Offering, for He offered Himself. As Man He offered Himself, and that spotless, to God. And all was done in the energy and according to the will of the Eternal Spirit. Necessarily such a sacrifice was of immense value, meeting every requirement of God's holy nature, glorifying Him fully, and laying an immutable basis of blessing both for the believer now, for Israel in a future day, and for all eternity. Through this sacrifice, then, the Christian has a purged conscience. What, let us ask, does this signify? It means a conscience so fully cleared of every charge of sin in virtue of the blood of Christ, that not one question remains unsettled between the soul and God. Does the reader know what it is to possess this?
Now Christ is the Mediator of the new covenant, but in order that this covenant might have force, death must come in. To prove that this is so the writer uses, as an illustration, the common case of a will. A will is of no force while the testator is alive: death must take place before it can be given effect to. This was true even of the old covenant, for Moses sprinkled with blood both the tables of the law and the people. And not only so, but he sprinkled the "things" as well—both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. Death and blood-shedding were absolutely necessary (not only for the persons, but for the heavenly places defiled by sin) for purification; and this is a lesson sadly needed in Christendom, where so much is made to depend on forms and ordinances, instead of on Christ. Yet Scripture is as plain and clear as words can be, that "without shedding of blood is no remission"; so that all religion which leaves aside atonement by blood, and goes on the ground of works or aught else, is totally opposed to the very foundation truth of Christianity. We should specially note the words "shedding of blood" here. This never can take place again, nor can Christ ever "suffer" again—the work was done once and forever.
And not only has Christ offered a "better" sacrifice, able to purify the conscience, but He has entered heaven itself and now appears in the presence of God for us. His sacrifice, too, being of infinite and unchanging value, necessarily excludes all thought of repetition. What marked and distinguished the sacrifices of old was repetition; this is expressed in the word applied to them—"often." What characterizes the sacrifice of Christ is non-repetition, and this is expressed in the word "once." Now it was not immediately after Adam sinned that Christ appeared, although there was, even then, the promise that the Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head. But God allowed the trial of man to go on for centuries, in various ways—without law, under law, with the prophets, and so on. At the end of this long period of trial, when man had failed in every way—for this is the meaning of the expression "in the end of the world"—then Christ appeared. We should carefully note that there are two things said here—"to put away
sin," and to "bear the sins of many." "Sin" is the root, the evil principle: "sins" are the fruits or acts produced by the bad root. Remark, it does not say Christ has put away sin, but that He appeared to do so.
The full, final putting away of sin will not be until the whole universe is cleared from every trace of it in the new heavens and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. We have in these closing verses a reference to the various parts in the great day of atonement (Lev. 16). There was first the slaying of the victim and the sprinkling of the blood in the holiest of all, upon the mercy seat. This typified the blood of Christ, presented before God, by which all His holy and just requirements as to sin were fully met. Then the blood was sprinkled upon the tabernacle itself—figurative of the application of the efficacy of Christ's blood to the heavens themselves, which now "are not clean in His sight." After this the sins of the people were confessed over the scape-goat, by which they were borne away into a land not inhabited. This latter was a type of Christ bearing the sins (it does not say of all, but) of many: namely, of those who believe.
Now the appointed lot of man as a child of Adam and a sinner, is death and judgment; but as to those who have faith in Him, Christ has borne their sins and set them free, and to "them that look for Him" He will appear the second time, apart from sin, unto salvation. This passage is so worded as to take in those amongst the godly Jews who, in a future day, will be looking for the Messiah, as well as Christians who are looking for Him now. It is here assumed that every Christian is looking for Christ, and there is no ground in the passage for the erroneous idea that only those who are looking for Him will be "caught up" when the Lord comes—a theory which is altogether foreign to Scripture. His appearing the second time will be "without sin." Of course, as to His own Person, Christ was always without sin; but He became the sin-bearer for others on the cross; and the point before us here is that He settled the whole question so finally and disposed of it so fully then, that when He comes again He will have absolutely nothing more to do with sin in any way whatever. His appearing the second time will be "unto salvation." The word "salvation" in this verse is to be understood in its fullest sense. We have already the salvation of the soul, but the body has not yet participated in salvation. A day is soon coming, however, in which the efficacy of the sacrifice and the results of Christ's redemption work will be so fully effectuated, that our bodies also will participate in it, and we shall be changed and transformed even bodily into His image in glory.