Exodus 24:8, commentary and pictures

Moses sprinkled the blood on the people as the final step of the solemn ratification at Sinai, after telling them all the words and judgments, writing them down, building an altar with twelve pillars, offering burnt and peace offerings, putting half the blood on the altar, and reading the book of the covenant to their repeated promise to obey. The covenant was made concerning all those heard words, and specifically concerning the Ten Commandments in all their details, which were already God's covenant and became its basis as what He commanded them to perform. By that sprinkling the covenant God had made with Israel and the people's pledge to do all He had said were solemnly confirmed, sealed, and ratified, binding them to the words they had promised to keep. The sprinkled blood signified the shedding of the blood of Jesus by which human beings are cleansed from sin, with that on the altar signifying their consecration of body, mind, and soul to God and that on the people signifying His gracious acceptance of them as His special treasure. That sprinkling set Israel apart anew as a peculiar people sealed to God, typifying the covenant made between God and every believer in Jesus Christ.

Ratification at Sinai

The sprinkling of blood was the final step of a solemn ratification in which Moses first told the people all the words of the Lord and the judgments, wrote them down, and then built an altar under the hill with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. Young men of Israel offered burnt offerings and peace offerings of oxen, Moses put half the blood in basins and sprinkled half on the altar, and then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. The people had already answered with one voice that they would do all the words the Lord had said, and after the reading they repeated the promise to do all He had said and be obedient, with their solemn pledge written in the book. Then Moses sprinkled the blood on the people and declared it the blood of the covenant which the Lord had made with them concerning all these words, thereby sealing their pledge to do all He had said and to be obedient.

The laws and ordinances Moses wrote and read had been given in the mount just as spoken and dictated by the Son of God, Christ, the same Teacher who later spoke in human flesh. At Sinai Israel formally covenanted to accept God as their sovereign, and God acknowledged them as His chosen and treasured people. This followed His wonders in bringing them from Egypt and gave reason to expect further blessing in speedily entering the good land.

After the sprinkling Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders and saw the God of Israel, with under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone as heaven in clearness. Upon the nobles God laid not His hand, but they saw God and ate and drank. Then the Lord called Moses higher into the mount, with Joshua as his minister, to receive tables of stone with law and commandments written for teaching the people. There followed directions for building a sanctuary and the pattern of the ark, while the delay of Moses revealed unbelief that broke out in the golden calf.

Terms of the Covenant

The covenant was made concerning all the words the people had heard, and specifically concerning the Ten Commandments in all their details. Those commandments had already been termed God's covenant before this covenant with Israel was made, and they became its basis. They were not an agreement negotiated between parties but what God commanded Israel to perform. The blood sprinkled on the people confirmed that covenant and bound them to the words they had promised to keep after hearing its terms and freely renewing their pledge to obey them.

The book Moses read contained the judgments and conditional promises, not the Ten Commandments. Its promises depended on obedience. The conditions were plainly laid before the people with the principles of the law particularized so they would know how much obedience involved. They unanimously consented and accepted those defined obligations, saying they would do all the Lord said and be obedient.

Those covenant words include laws written in a book that guard against injustice, guide dealings with one another, put an end to contention, and call people to love as brethren with softened and subdued hearts. The law on stone and the specific precepts given through Christ to Moses expressed the enduring principles of love for God and for others and guarded them from being forgotten in an apostate world. The instruction God gave to Moses in the mount belonging to this verse must be studied and presented before the people now just as verily as by Israel in the days of Moses.

Obedience to those requirements would have made Israel practical Christians, happy in keeping God's ways instead of following their own natural hearts. The pledge to obey God's words is connected with God's blessing for obedience and with the law given at Sinai whose commands were later repeated and explained for the people. Worshiping the calf, the work of man, in place of sincere devotion to the living God broke the covenant Israel had so recently made with God. The broken tables of stone represented that they had thus broken the covenant.

Meaning of Sprinkled Blood

By the sprinkling Moses solemnly confirmed, sealed and ratified the covenant God had made with Israel concerning all the words they had heard. The sprinkled blood ratified the people's solemn pledge to do all He had said and be obedient, binding them to the words they had promised to keep after they had freely heard its terms and renewed that pledge. That pledge to obey God's words, confirmed in a covenant sealed with blood, stands connected with God's blessing for obedience.

The sprinkling set Israel apart once more as a peculiar and special people and sealed them to God in solemn covenant. The service was the final act by which Israel was set apart in covenant at Sinai after they had twice agreed to do and be obedient to all the Lord had said. The sprinkled blood signified the shedding of the blood of Jesus, by which human beings are cleansed from sin.

The portion sprinkled on the altar signified that the people consecrated themselves body, mind, and soul to God. The portion sprinkled on the people signified that through the sprinkled blood of Christ God graciously accepted them as His special treasure. Their covenant with God typified the covenant made between God and every believer in Jesus Christ.

The old covenant formed with Israel at Sinai was ratified by the blood of a sacrifice. That blood was shed before the blood of Christ that ratified the Abrahamic covenant, which is why the Sinai compact is called the first or old covenant and the Abrahamic covenant is called the second or new covenant.