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The first covenant had rules for worship and a place made for worship as well.
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A tent was put up, the outer one, which was called the Holy Place. In it were the lampstand and the table with the bread offered to God.
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Behind the second curtain was the tent called the Most Holy Place.
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In it were the gold altar for the burning of incense and the Covenant Box all covered with gold and containing the gold jar with the manna in it, Aaron's stick that had sprouted leaves, and the two stone tablets with the commandments written on them.
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Above the Box were the winged creatures representing God's presence, with their wings spread over the place where sins were forgiven. But now is not the time to explain everything in detail.
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This is how those things have been arranged. The priests go into the outer tent every day to perform their duties,
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but only the high priest goes into the inner tent, and he does so only once a year. He takes with him blood which he offers to God on behalf of himself and for the sins which the people have committed without knowing they were sinning.
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The Holy Spirit clearly teaches from all these arrangements that the way into the Most Holy Place has not yet been opened as long as the outer tent still stands.
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This is a symbol which points to the present time. It means that the offerings and animal sacrifices presented to God cannot make the worshiper's heart perfect,
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since they have to do only with food, drink, and various purification ceremonies. These are all outward rules, which apply only until the time when God will establish the new order.
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But Christ has already come as the High Priest of the good things that are already here. The tent in which he serves is greater and more perfect; it is not a tent made by human hands, that is, it is not a part of this created world.
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When Christ went through the tent and entered once and for all into the Most Holy Place, he did not take the blood of goats and bulls to offer as a sacrifice; rather, he took his own blood and obtained eternal salvation for us.
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The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a burnt calf are sprinkled on the people who are ritually unclean, and this purifies them by taking away their ritual impurity.
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Since this is true, how much more is accomplished by the blood of Christ! Through the eternal Spirit he offered himself as a perfect sacrifice to God. His blood will purify our consciences from useless rituals, so that we may serve the living God.
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For this reason Christ is the one who arranges a new covenant, so that those who have been called by God may receive the eternal blessings that God has promised. This can be done because there has been a death which sets people free from the wrongs they did while the first covenant was in effect.
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In the case of a will it is necessary to prove that the person who made it has died,
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for a will means nothing while the person who made it is alive; it goes into effect only after his death.
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That is why even the first covenant went into effect only with the use of blood.
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First, Moses proclaimed to the people all the commandments as set forth in the Law. Then he took the blood of bulls and goats, mixed it with water, and sprinkled it on the book of the Law and all the people, using a sprig of hyssop and some red wool.
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He said, "This is the blood which seals the covenant that God has commanded you to obey."
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In the same way Moses also sprinkled the blood on the Sacred Tent and over all the things used in worship.
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Indeed, according to the Law almost everything is purified by blood, and sins are forgiven only if blood is poured out.
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Those things, which are copies of the heavenly originals, had to be purified in that way. But the heavenly things themselves require much better sacrifices.
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For Christ did not go into a Holy Place made by human hands, which was a copy of the real one. He went into heaven itself, where he now appears on our behalf in the presence of God.
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The Jewish high priest goes into the Most Holy Place every year with the blood of an animal. But Christ did not go in to offer himself many times,
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for then he would have had to suffer many times ever since the creation of the world. Instead, now when all ages of time are nearing the end, he has appeared once and for all, to remove sin through the sacrifice of himself.
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Everyone must die once, and after that be judged by God.
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In the same manner Christ also was offered in sacrifice once to take away the sins of many. He will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are waiting for him.
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The Jewish Law is not a full and faithful model of the real things; it is only a faint outline of the good things to come. The same sacrifices are offered forever, year after year. How can the Law, then, by means of these sacrifices make perfect the people who come to God?
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If the people worshiping God had really been purified from their sins, they would not feel guilty of sin any more, and all sacrifices would stop.
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As it is, however, the sacrifices serve year after year to remind people of their sins.
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For the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins.
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For this reason, when Christ was about to come into the world, he said to God: "You do not want sacrifices and offerings, but you have prepared a body for me.
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You are not pleased with animals burned whole on the altar or with sacrifices to take away sins.
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Then I said, 'Here I am, to do your will, O God, just as it is written of me in the book of the Law.' "
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First he said, "You neither want nor are you pleased with sacrifices and offerings or with animals burned on the altar and the sacrifices to take away sins." He said this even though all these sacrifices are offered according to the Law.
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Then he said, "Here I am, O God, to do your will." So God does away with all the old sacrifices and puts the sacrifice of Christ in their place.
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Because Jesus Christ did what God wanted him to do, we are all purified from sin by the offering that he made of his own body once and for all.
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Every Jewish priest performs his services every day and offers the same sacrifices many times; but these sacrifices can never take away sins.
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Christ, however, offered one sacrifice for sins, an offering that is effective forever, and then he sat down at the right side of God.
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There he now waits until God puts his enemies as a footstool under his feet.
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With one sacrifice, then, he has made perfect forever those who are purified from sin.
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And the Holy Spirit also gives us his witness. First he says,
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"This is the covenant that I will make with them in the days to come, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts and write them on their minds."
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And then he says, "I will not remember their sins and evil deeds any longer."
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So when these have been forgiven, an offering to take away sins is no longer needed.
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We have, then, my friends, complete freedom to go into the Most Holy Place by means of the death of Jesus.
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He opened for us a new way, a living way, through the curtain---that is, through his own body.
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We have a great priest in charge of the house of God.
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So let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, with hearts that have been purified from a guilty conscience and with bodies washed with clean water.
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Let us hold on firmly to the hope we profess, because we can trust God to keep his promise.
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Let us be concerned for one another, to help one another to show love and to do good.
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Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more, since you see that the Day of the Lord is coming nearer.
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For there is no longer any sacrifice that will take away sins if we purposely go on sinning after the truth has been made known to us.
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Instead, all that is left is to wait in fear for the coming Judgment and the fierce fire which will destroy those who oppose God!
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Anyone who disobeys the Law of Moses is put to death without any mercy when judged guilty from the evidence of two or more witnesses.
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What, then, of those who despise the Son of God? who treat as a cheap thing the blood of God's covenant which purified them from sin? who insult the Spirit of grace? Just think how much worse is the punishment they will deserve!
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For we know who said, "I will take revenge, I will repay"; and who also said, "The Lord will judge his people."
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It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!
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Remember how it was with you in the past. In those days, after God's light had shone on you, you suffered many things, yet were not defeated by the struggle.
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You were at times publicly insulted and mistreated, and at other times you were ready to join those who were being treated in this way.
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You shared the sufferings of prisoners, and when all your belongings were seized, you endured your loss gladly, because you knew that you still possessed something much better, which would last forever.
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Do not lose your courage, then, because it brings with it a great reward.
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You need to be patient, in order to do the will of God and receive what he promises.
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For, as the scripture says, "Just a little while longer, and he who is coming will come; he will not delay.
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My righteous people, however, will believe and live; but if any of them turns back, I will not be pleased with them."
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We are not people who turn back and are lost. Instead, we have faith and are saved.
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To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.
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It was by their faith that people of ancient times won God's approval.
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It is by faith that we understand that the universe was created by God's word, so that what can be seen was made out of what cannot be seen.
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It was faith that made Abel offer to God a better sacrifice than Cain's. Through his faith he won God's approval as a righteous man, because God himself approved of his gifts. By means of his faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
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It was faith that kept Enoch from dying. Instead, he was taken up to God, and nobody could find him, because God had taken him up. The scripture says that before Enoch was taken up, he had pleased God.
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No one can please God without faith, for whoever comes to God must have faith that God exists and rewards those who seek him.
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It was faith that made Noah hear God's warnings about things in the future that he could not see. He obeyed God and built a boat in which he and his family were saved. As a result, the world was condemned, and Noah received from God the righteousness that comes by faith.
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It was faith that made Abraham obey when God called him to go out to a country which God had promised to give him. He left his own country without knowing where he was going.
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By faith he lived as a foreigner in the country that God had promised him. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who received the same promise from God.
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For Abraham was waiting for the city which God has designed and built, the city with permanent foundations.
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It was faith that made Abraham able to become a father, even though he was too old and Sarah herself could not have children. He trusted God to keep his promise.
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Though Abraham was practically dead, from this one man came as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, as many as the numberless grains of sand on the seashore.
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It was in faith that all these persons died. They did not receive the things God had promised, but from a long way off they saw them and welcomed them, and admitted openly that they were foreigners and refugees on earth.
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Those who say such things make it clear that they are looking for a country of their own.
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They did not keep thinking about the country they had left; if they had, they would have had the chance to return.
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Instead, it was a better country they longed for, the heavenly country. And so God is not ashamed for them to call him their God, because he has prepared a city for them.
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It was faith that made Abraham offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice when God put Abraham to the test. Abraham was the one to whom God had made the promise, yet he was ready to offer his only son as a sacrifice.
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God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that you will have the descendants I promised."
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Abraham reckoned that God was able to raise Isaac from death---and, so to speak, Abraham did receive Isaac back from death.
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It was faith that made Isaac promise blessings for the future to Jacob and Esau.
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It was faith that made Jacob bless each of the sons of Joseph just before he died. He leaned on the top of his walking stick and worshiped God.
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It was faith that made Joseph, when he was about to die, speak of the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, and leave instructions about what should be done with his body.
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It was faith that made the parents of Moses hide him for three months after he was born. They saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king's order.
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It was faith that made Moses, when he had grown up, refuse to be called the son of the king's daughter.
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He preferred to suffer with God's people rather than to enjoy sin for a little while.
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He reckoned that to suffer scorn for the Messiah was worth far more than all the treasures of Egypt, for he kept his eyes on the future reward.
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It was faith that made Moses leave Egypt without being afraid of the king's anger. As though he saw the invisible God, he refused to turn back.
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It was faith that made him establish the Passover and order the blood to be sprinkled on the doors, so that the Angel of Death would not kill the first-born sons of the Israelites.
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It was faith that made the Israelites able to cross the Red Sea as if on dry land; when the Egyptians tried to do it, the water swallowed them up.
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It was faith that made the walls of Jericho fall down after the Israelites had marched around them for seven days.
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It was faith that kept the prostitute Rahab from being killed with those who disobeyed God, for she gave the Israelite spies a friendly welcome.
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Should I go on? There isn't enough time for me to speak of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets.
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Through faith they fought whole countries and won. They did what was right and received what God had promised. They shut the mouths of lions,
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put out fierce fires, escaped being killed by the sword. They were weak, but became strong; they were mighty in battle and defeated the armies of foreigners.
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Through faith women received their dead relatives raised back to life. Others, refusing to accept freedom, died under torture in order to be raised to a better life.
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Some were mocked and whipped, and others were put in chains and taken off to prison.
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They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were killed by the sword. They went around clothed in skins of sheep or goats---poor, persecuted, and mistreated.
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The world was not good enough for them! They wandered like refugees in the deserts and hills, living in caves and holes in the ground.
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What a record all of these have won by their faith! Yet they did not receive what God had promised,
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because God had decided on an even better plan for us. His purpose was that only in company with us would they be made perfect.
