Leviticus 1:11, commentary and pictures

The verse lays out the procedure for a burnt offering of a sheep or goat, to be killed by the offerer on the north side of the altar in the court before the Lord while Aaron's sons as priests sprinkle its blood round about upon the altar. The victim served as the worshiper's substitute, receiving guilt by the laying on of hands with confession of sin and then dying to pay the penalty the sinner deserved. Since blood represents life, that ministering with the blood carried the confessed sin through the victim into the sanctuary, where forgiven sins were left in figure and accumulated through the year until the cleansing service. The burnt offering represents the surrender of all one's powers and life to God after confessing sin, accepted to make atonement, with the sprinkled blood representing life surrendered for the Lord to use wherever He chooses. As part of the earthly sanctuary service it is a pattern, shadow, and type of the temple of God in heaven and Christ's priestly service there as High Priest, foreshadowing His death for sinners completed once for all and written for learning to give clearer views of the Saviour and hope through the Scriptures. It belongs to the levitical law given to the children of Israel, distinct from the perpetual law of God, and abolished by Christ.

Procedure and Sanctuary Setting

The rite is for a burnt offering of a sheep or goat, in which the offerer himself kills the animal on the north side of the altar in the court before the Lord, and Aaron's sons as priests sprinkle its blood round about upon the altar. The blood was collected, some applied to the horns of the altar and the remainder poured out at its base. In the individual sin-offering ritual likewise the victim was brought to the altar, the offerer laid a hand on its head and killed it, and the priest then used its blood in the sanctuary service.

The Hebrew word rendered sprinkle is zah-rak, meaning to scatter and thus to sprinkle, not to dip or immerse. The verse belongs to the instructions for individual offerings in Leviticus 1 to 7, given in connection with the tribe of Levi and the priesthood. It is part of the first grand division of the earthly sanctuary ministration, the daily ministration in the first apartment during the year, alongside the regular morning and evening burnt offering, the burning of sweet incense, and the work on Sabbaths, new moons, and feasts, distinct from the second division, the yearly work in the most holy place for cleansing the sanctuary.

In the order of the offerings the Lord begins with the burnt offering and ends with the sin offering, while a person coming to God begins with the sin offering and ends with the burnt offering, and the offerings chiefly point to worship. The law of sacrifice made offerings possible for people of different means, from more costly animals for the rich to less costly ones for the poor and even fine flour in extreme poverty, so the offering was within reach of even the poorest, yet everyone was required to bring something because everyone had sinned.

The animal offerings include the same kinds prepared by Abraham, with a distinction between beasts cut into pieces and birds left undivided. Abel's offering matched the burnt-offering instructions of Leviticus 1:1-17 in every detail, which shows those instructions had already been given to Adam's family immediately after the fall so that acceptance rested on obedience, with Abel accepted for obeying and Cain rejected for disobeying by bringing fruit.

Atonement and Christ Shadow

The offering served as the worshiper's substitute after laying a hand upon it and confessing sin to signify the transfer of guilt. The innocent victim bore the guilt and its death paid the penalty, acknowledging that the sinner deserved death. Its blood signified that a life had paid the penalty of transgression, showing hatred of sin and that sin demanded its penalty. The victim was slain in the sinner's place and its blood was used by the priest in ministry for the one who confessed, with the priest mediating for the sinner before the Lord.

Since blood represents life, the priest's ministry with the blood carried the confessed sin from the sinner through the victim into the sanctuary. Forgiven sins were left there in figure through the blood or the priest and accumulated through the year until the special cleansing service. The rite pictured guilt passing from the sinner to the substitute and then, through the blood sprinkled before the Lord, to the sanctuary.

The burnt offering represents surrendering all one's powers and life to God after confessing sin, and is accepted to make atonement. Since the blood is the life, the priest's sprinkling of it on the altar represents surrendering one's life to the Lord for Him to use wherever He chooses throughout the world.

As part of the earthly sanctuary and its service, the instruction is a pattern, shadow, and type given as an impressive object-lesson concerning the temple of God in heaven and Christ's priestly service therein as High Priest and Minister of the heavenly sanctuary. It typifies the work of Jesus Christ completed once for all and foreshadows His death for sinners, with the innocent animal giving its life as a substitute. People brought such sacrifices as expressions of faith in the Redeemer to come, and it is a shadow of the great substance which is in Jesus Christ. It belongs to Scripture profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness to make the man of God perfect, and was written for learning so that through patience and comfort of the Scriptures hope may be had, so that study of it gives understanding of the heavenly temple and clearer views of the Saviour and His work in behalf of men.

The verse belongs to the levitical law given to the children of Israel, distinct from the absolute and perpetual law of God, and abolished by Christ.