Hebrews 9:19
For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,
After every precept had been spoken to all the people according to the law, Moses sprinkled both the book and all the people with the blood of calves and of goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop. The solemn service set Israel apart as a peculiar people and sealed them to God. Moses told them all the words of the Lord and all the judgments, wrote the words, built an altar under the hill with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes, had young men offer burnt offerings and peace offerings of oxen, put half the blood in basins and sprinkled half on the altar, read the book of the covenant in the audience of the people, and then sprinkled the blood on the people as the blood of the covenant concerning all these words.
The book contained the Lord's words and judgments and the people's pledge to obey. The conditions were given to the people again, and the people freely and unanimously reaffirmed with one voice that they would do all the Lord had said and be obedient. The blood marked the covenant as one God had enjoined upon them. It was made on plainly laid conditions of obedience to the commandments and the particularized judgments of the law, which if kept would have made them happy by keeping God's ways instead of following their own hearts.
The sprinkling in two parts carried two meanings. The portion on the altar signified that the people consecrated themselves to God in body, mind, and soul. The portion on the people signified that through the sprinkled blood of Christ God graciously accepted them as His special treasure. The blood of calves and goats belonged to the sacrificial offerings of the Jewish law that foreshadowed Christ giving His own life as the one great offering. The sprinkling of the blood on the book and the people represented the shedding of the blood of Jesus by which human beings are cleansed from sin.
The blood rites point to Christ's blood ratifying the new covenant, in contrast to the old covenant at Sinai ratified by the blood of a sacrifice. The Abrahamic covenant is called the new covenant because its sealing blood, Christ's blood, was shed later. When type met antitype at the death of Christ, the offering of the blood of beasts became valueless and the value of all the sacrificial offerings of the Jewish law was terminated. Yet Christ, though a Jew, had observed the law binding upon the Jews to the hour of His death on the cross, proving without foundation the charge that He did not regard the law of Moses.
The Sinai covenant typifies the covenant made between God and every believer in Jesus Christ. Its blessings belong to all who receive Him as God's children and joint-heirs with Christ. Jesus' efficacious blood is the believer's only hope and stronghold, and God's promise is signed and sealed with His blood. The sacrament keeps before believers Christ's infinite sacrifice for each person and for fallen humanity as a whole. Israel's rebellion against the law and authority of God caused their destruction, and the honor of being conducted by God's Son increased their sin.