Jesus fulfills the Day of Atonement as outlined in the Old Testament. How did He do it? And what is the significance for us today?
The Day of Atonement
To properly understand the significance of the Day of Atonement and how it relates to us today, we must first understand the importance of this holy day as originally instituted by the Lord in the Old Testament.
“Thus Aaron shall come into the Holy Place, with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering… and he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering… He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat… then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with the blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness… for on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord” (Leviticus 16:3-30)
On the Day of Atonement, the high priest enters the Holy Place with the blood of a sin offering and sprinkles it on the mercy seat to make atonement and cleanse the people from their sins before the Lord.
There are three very important elements that must be examined to better understand the significance: (1) the sin offering, (2) the mercy seat, and (3) the high priest. Let’s take a look at all three.
The Sin Offering
“Thus Aaron shall come into the Holy Place, with the blood of a sin offering… for on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.” – Leviticus 16
Before Leviticus 16 established the Day of Atonement, Leviticus 4 introduced the sin offering. There, the anointed priest was instructed to bring the blood of a sin offering into the tabernacle of meeting and make atonement for the people. This practice, however, was limited in scope. Then, in Leviticus 16, the Lord instituted a significant holy day known as the Day of Atonement. This holy day incorporates the sin offering but expands its scope and introduces several important distinctions.
First, unlike the general practice of the sin offering, this particular offering is made only once a year, on the Day of Atonement. Second, only the high priest, rather than any priest, can offer this particular sacrifice. Third, only on the Day of Atonement can the high priest enter the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the blood of the sin offering on the mercy seat of the ark. Fourth, the sin offering made on this particular holy day makes atonement for all the sins of all the people before the Lord.
The Mercy Seat
He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat… then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with the blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. So he shall make atonement.” – Leviticus 16
The mercy seat is first mentioned in Exodus 25 and takes place when the Lord is giving instructions regarding the Ark of the Covenant.
“And they shall make an ark of acacia wood… and you shall overlay it with pure gold… and you shall put into the ark the Testimony which I will give you. You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width… You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you… and there I will meet with you” (Exodus 25:10, 11, 16, 17, 21)
In giving instructions concerning the ark of the covenant, the Lord commands that the Testimony—that is, the tablets of stone containing the Ten Commandments—be placed inside the ark. He then describes the cover of the ark, which sits above the commandments, as the mercy seat, not the judgment seat. This arrangement is significant because it highlights the heart of God, who desires to show mercy even as He gives His law and establishes His righteous standard. As James 2:13 states, “Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
This does not negate the sobering biblical reality of divine judgment, including the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10; Romans 14:10) and the great white throne judgment (Revelation 20:11–15). Rather, it highlights something remarkable about God’s provision. The same God who gave His righteous commandments also provided a place of mercy.
The Hebrew term translated “mercy seat” is kapporet, which is related to the Hebrew root kaphar, meaning to make propitiation or atonement. This same Hebrew word family gives us the name Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The mercy seat, therefore, was intimately connected with atonement. It was there that sacrificial blood was presented before the Lord on the Day of Atonement.
So what does all of this mean for you and me today?
The New Testament says the following about Jesus:
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).
“And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2).
“[Jesus] whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness” (Romans 3:25).
The New Testament is clear that Jesus is the propitiation for our sins. Through His atoning sacrifice, He provides the basis for our reconciliation with God. Notice what Paul says in Ephesians:
“For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.” (Ephesians 2:14–18)
Through the cross, Jesus reconciles us to God. In doing so, He breaks down the middle wall of separation and makes peace. But the question is: Peace between whom? Certainly, Paul is speaking of peace between Jews and Gentiles, who had been separated from one another on account of the law. But Paul’s argument does not end with reconciliation between Jews and Gentiles. He goes on to explain that Jesus reconciles both to the Father in one body through the cross. Verse 18 concludes, “For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.”
In other words, both Jews and Gentiles are reconciled to God through Christ, not through the law. Paul writes, “No one is justified by the law in the sight of God” and that “the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:11, 24).
Colossians 1:19-22 states, “For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him [Christ Jesus] to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.”
Jesus made peace through the shedding of His own blood and reconciles us to God. It is through Christ, not the law, that we have access to the Father.
Remember the mercy seat? God’s commandments rested within the ark. But above the law God placed the mercy seat, where the blood of atonement would be offered. Reconciliation requires atonement, and God Himself provided it. This is what makes the mercy seat so significant. God placed atonement and mercy over the law, pointing us ultimately to Christ and the atonement He provides. Our access to the Father, therefore, does not come through the law, but through Christ. He is “the way, the truth, and the life,” and “no one comes to the Father except through” Him (John 14:6). When we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, we receive God’s mercy through the atonement Christ provided and are reconciled to the Father.
The High Priest
“For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.” – Leviticus 16:30
On the Day of Atonement, “the priest” specifically refers to the high priest. On that day, only the high priest may take the blood of the sin offering, enter the Holy of Holies, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat to make atonement for the people. Regarding Jesus, notice what the book of Hebrews says:
“Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” (Hebrews 2:17)
In other words, Jesus made propitiation for our sins as a merciful and faithful “High Priest.” This is significant!
How does this relate to the Day of Atonement?
Notice what Hebrews goes on to say:
“Indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary…. Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience… But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:6–12)
And also:
“For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” (Hebrews 9:24)
Hebrews very clearly tells us that there is another tabernacle in heaven. The true tabernacle. And Jesus did not enter the tabernacle made with hands here on earth, but He entered the true tabernacle in heaven—the Holiest of All—and presented Himself before God for you and me. This is what the Day of Atonement is all about! And Jesus fulfilled all three elements:
- The High Priest: “Christ came as High Priest” (Hebrews 9:11)
- The Sin Offering: “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood…” (Hebrews 9:12)
- The Mercy Seat: “Behind the second veil… the Holiest of All, which had… the mercy seat. He entered the Most Holy Place once for all… to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 9:1-5, 12; Hebrews 2:17).
Jesus, our High Priest, fulfills this holy day by making atonement for us in His own blood and reconciling us to the Father. He not only made peace, but also granted us access into the very presence of God.
Preparing a Place For Us
This may be one of the most amazing and beautiful aspects of the Day of Atonement, yet it is so often overlooked. On the Day of Atonement, the high priest would not only make atonement for the people, cleansing them from all their sins before the Lord, but he would also make atonement for the Holy Place itself. This is fascinating and has incredible, eternal implications for us today.
Leviticus 16:16 says:
“So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness.”
Notice that the Lord instructs the high priest to make atonement for the Holy Place, which was necessary because of the sins of God’s people. In other words, the high priest not only had to make atonement for the people but also for the Holy Place—the tabernacle of meeting—where God Himself dwells. Then notice verse 17:
“There shall be no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel.”
Notice the instructions: “No man” shall be in the tabernacle of meeting when the high priest goes in, “until he comes out.” In other words, no other human being, except the high priest, may enter the Holy of Holies where God dwells until atonement is made. Only after atonement is made may all the priests enter the Holy Place. What does this mean for us today?
Jesus, our High Priest, says something very interesting in John 13 and 14:
“Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you.” … Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.” (John 13:33, 36)
Notice that Jesus said, “Where I am going, you cannot come… now! But you shall follow me… afterward.” The question is: where is He going? Some believe Jesus is referring to the cross, and it’s understandable given what Peter said next, but we must continue reading the passage to find out how Jesus truly answers the question of where He is going.
Notice what He goes on to say:
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1-3)
Jesus told us exactly where He is going: to His Father’s house in heaven. And He tells us why He is going there: to prepare a place for us. Until Jesus prepared the Father’s house for us, no one could enter.
Jesus continues the conversation:
“And where I go you know, and the way you know.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
As Thomas sought more clarity about where Jesus was going and how to follow Him afterward, Jesus responded with the familiar verse, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Only through Jesus—and because of what He fulfilled for us—can we come to the Father in heaven. This is important to understand. Before Jesus died and rose again and presented Himself before the Father with His own blood to make atonement for us, no one could enter the Most Holy Place in heaven. But afterward, we can now follow Him there.
Jesus fulfills the Day of Atonement as outlined in Leviticus 16. He became our High Priest and offered Himself as a sin offering by shedding His own blood. He entered the Holiest Place of All and presented His blood before the Father. He made atonement and prepared heaven for us. We now have access to dwell with the Father forever when we receive and follow Jesus as our personal Lord, Savior, and High Priest.
This is why the Day of Atonement is so significant for us today!
Tristan Fenholt 