Leviticus 6:27, commentary and pictures

The flesh of the sin-offering was most holy so that whatever touched it became holy, and any garment upon which its blood was sprinkled — sprinkled, not dipped or immersed — had to be washed in the holy place. Those who held that its blood could carry the imputed defilement of the sinner taught that the garment it touched became unclean and therefore required washing there. In the daily procedure the sinner confessed sin over the offering and slew it, and the priest then bore the iniquity of the congregation to make atonement for them by eating the holy flesh in the holy place or by bringing some of its blood there. The sacrifices of the ceremonial law laid the sinner’s sin upon an innocent substitute, but they could not actually take away sin, and the priest’s eating of the flesh to bear the people’s sins represents Christ bearing His people’s infirmities and appearing before God on their behalf. Every individual offering brought in faith transferred the forgiven sin in figure by blood or by priest into the sanctuary to wait there until its final removal on the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of the seventh month, a pattern and shadow of Christ who bore sin in His body and put it away by His own once-for-all sacrifice and priestly ministry in the heavenly sanctuary.

Ritual Words and Setting

The action upon the garment is expressed by the Hebrew word nah-zah, which denotes sprinkling and not dipping or immersing. The flesh of the sin-offering is most holy, so that whatever touches it becomes holy, and any garment upon which its blood is sprinkled must be washed in the holy place. The altar sacrifice and its blood were so holy that contact with them imparted holiness, and blood spattered on a garment required washing in the holy place.

The rule belongs to the law of the sin-offering for a ruler or one of the common people sinning in ignorance, which was dealt with differently from the offering for the high priest and for the whole congregation. That flesh was eaten by the priests in the holy place, and the eating was given to them to bear the iniquity of the congregation to make atonement for them before the Lord. Where the priest himself was concerned in the sin he was not permitted to eat of the offering, and if any of its blood was brought into the tabernacle to make atonement in the holy place the offering was not to be eaten but burned.

In the daily procedure the sinner confessed sin upon the offering, laid a hand on its head, and killed it, and the priest then disposed of it in the holy place either by eating the flesh there or by bringing some of its blood there. When the blood was not carried into the sanctuary the flesh was eaten in the holy place, and this eating represented the transfer of the offerer's sin to the sanctuary. After the blood was spilled at the base of the altar of burnt-offering outside the tabernacle and its fat was burned upon that altar, its body still bearing the confessed sin was carried into the first apartment to be disposed of by the priests, so that the sin was brought into the tabernacle to wait there until the great day of atonement for its final disposition.

The verse belongs to the instructions for individual offerings in Leviticus 1 to 7, the individual part of the daily ministration in the holy place alongside the regular morning and evening burnt offering, the burning of sweet incense, and the special work on Sabbaths, new moons and feasts, distinct from the yearly work in the most holy place. Its sacrificial blood carried the worshiper's sin and guilt into the sanctuary when sprinkled there, and its specific rule about blood on a garment belongs to this sacrificial service. It was the first of three general ministries of the earthly sanctuary in which sin-burdened individuals brought offerings, part of the complete round of service performed every year in the sanctuary built by Moses in the wilderness and later in the temple.

Although the offering itself is called most holy, its blood could bear the imputed defilement of the sinner into the sanctuary, so that a garment it touched became unclean and had to be washed in the holy place. The priests ate the holy flesh in the holy place in order to bear the iniquity of the congregation to make atonement for them before the Lord. The rule that anything touching the flesh becomes holy shows the offering was not treated as unholy refuse, and the priest who bore the people's iniquity was also held responsible for their unintentional sins, including sins committed through ignorance.

Type of Christ's Atonement

Leviticus 6:27 belongs to the ceremonial law, which was instituted because of sin. The sin-offering ritual centered on an innocent animal serving as the sinner's substitute, with its flesh or blood handled in the sanctuary service. The sacrifices represented sin as laid upon the substitute and wholly consumed, yet they could not actually remove or truly take away sin. Christ's sacrifice alone takes sin away, for he bore sin in his body and put it away through his own sacrifice.

The procedure required the priest who offered the sin offering to eat part of its flesh, symbolically taking the people's sins upon himself and making atonement for them. This priestly act represents Christ bearing the people's infirmities and appearing before God on their behalf. The details of the sacrifices and offerings have meaning, and their fuller meaning is found in the sacrifice, life, and work of Jesus Christ.

The individual sin offerings were brought by sin-burdened individuals showing faith in the Redeemer to come, as the first of three general ministries of the earthly sanctuary. Every individual offering described in the first seven chapters of Leviticus, when offered in faith by the sinner together with the daily offering, transferred in figure through the blood of the sacrifice or the person of the priest the forgiven sins of the penitent to the sanctuary. The sinner confessed his sin upon the offering, laid his hand upon its head, and killed it, and the priest then carried the sin into the holy place either by eating the flesh of the offering there or by bringing some of its blood there. When the offering's blood was not carried into the sanctuary, the flesh was eaten in the holy place, and this eating represented the transfer of the offerer's sin to the sanctuary.

The sacrificial blood carried the worshiper's sin and guilt in when sprinkled there, and the specific rule about blood on a garment belongs to this sacrificial service. After the blood of the sin-offering was spilled at the base of the altar of burnt-offering outside the tabernacle and its fat was burned upon that altar, its body still bearing the confessed sin was carried into the first apartment to be disposed of by the priests. In this way the sins of God's people were lodged daily in the sanctuary, with the blood sprinkled upon the altar before the ark leaving there in figure the forgiven sins to wait throughout the year until their final disposition and removal in the yearly cleansing on the tenth day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement.

The altar sacrifice and its blood were so holy that anyone who touched the sacrifice or was sprinkled with its blood was accounted holy, and blood spattered on a garment had to be washed in the holy place. This ritual illustrates the greater cleansing power of Christ's blood, for as the altar sanctified what was placed on it, so Christ's blood sanctifies those who submit themselves to God. As part of the earthly sanctuary and its service appointed since the days of Moses, the verse was not written in vain or without purpose but is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness to make the man of God perfect, and was written for learning that through patience and comfort of the Scriptures hope may be had, revealing God's way, power, and glory in the sanctuary. It is a pattern, shadow, and type, 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, so that study of it enables understanding of the heavenly sanctuary and gives clearer views of the Saviour and His work in behalf of men. The law for particular offerings individuals presented during the year formed the individual part of the daily ministration in the holy place alongside the regular morning and evening burnt offering, the burning of sweet incense, and the special work on Sabbaths, new moons and feasts, distinct from the yearly work in the most holy place, the whole ministration being the example and shadow of Christ's ministry in the true tabernacle, with the complete round of service performed every year in the sanctuary built by Moses in the wilderness and later in the temple typifying in building, appointments, priesthood, and service Christ and His priesthood in the heavenly sanctuary begun when He ascended on high, each year's typical service typifying the service of Christ performed once for all.