Leviticus 4:5, commentary and pictures

For the sin offering of a priest or of the whole congregation, the anointed priest was to take some of the bull's blood into the holy place, sprinkle it before the veil, and put it on the horns of the golden altar. For the individual sin offering, the priest carried the victim's blood into the holy place and sprinkled it before the veil. That blood brought inside signified the transfer of the repentant sinner's confessed sin from the sacrifice to the sanctuary.

In the Mosaic dispensation this was part of a law requiring sin offerings in addition to the tenth of all increase. It belonged to a Levitical system marked by the setting apart of property for God, in which God kept His claims first and in nearly everything required returns to remind Israel of Himself as the Giver. In that system sin offerings stood alongside trespass offerings, thank offerings, tithes, redemption of the firstborn, firstfruits of flocks and harvest, corners of fields and dropped grain left for the poor, letting the land lie untilled every seventh year for the needy, release of debts every seventh year, hospitality, gifts to the poor, assessments on property, and special voluntary gifts such as those for the wilderness tabernacle and the Jerusalem temple.

Those requirements applied to everyone in proportion to what each possessed, so a conscientious giver devoted about one-third of all income to religious purposes and the poor. Those contributions benefited the givers themselves as well as supporting God's service, and the amount required grows with the amount entrusted, so those with greater wealth owe a costlier gift, including sin offerings and thank offerings over and above the tithe.