The rescued killer was to remain in the city of refuge and live in it until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil, and after the death of the high priest he could return to the land of his possession (vv. 25b-29). The high priest here signifies Christ, who died for our sins. The Old Testament saints like Abraham, David, and Isaiah remained, spiritually speaking, in the city of refuge until Christ died. This was a refuge prior to direct salvation. Since Christ, our High Priest, has died, He is our refuge, not in the Old Testament sense but in the New Testament sense. This refuge is a matter of direct salvation. Christ has died and has resurrected, and now we are in Him, not merely as a refuge in the Old Testament sense but as our direct salvation. Christ is both the refuge and the direct salvation. Before His death, He was the refuge for the Old Testament saints. But now, after His death, He is our direct salvation.
The one who murdered with intent was to be put to death at the mouth of witnesses; however, no one was to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness (v. 30).
No ransom was to be accepted for the life of a murderer, who was guilty of death and who was to be put to death (v. 31).
Verse 32 says, "You shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the priest." If a member of his family tried to ransom him, that ransom would not be accepted. Since no ransom was to be accepted, the one who fled to a refuge city had to remain there until the death of the high priest. Spiritually speaking, for the Old Testament saints, the refuge city was like the fold in John 10. Those saints had to remain in this refuge, in this fold, until Christ, the High Priest, had died. No ransom could have released them before the time of Christ's death.
"Thus, you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land, and no propitiation can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of him who shed it. And you shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell; for I Jehovah dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel" (vv. 33-34). The land in the midst of which the Lord dwelt was not to be polluted or defiled by the shedding of blood for which no propitiation had been made. If the people followed the regulations concerning the cities of refuge, there would be no blood shed for which there was no propitiation. Then the entire land would be clean in the sight of God.
In human history, other than the nation of Israel, there has never been a country with the kind of regulations found in chapter thirty-five of Numbers. These regulations include giving forty-eight cities to God's serving ones, designating six of these cities as cities of refuge, and requiring that the one who legitimately fled to one of these cities had to remain there until the death of the high priest. The regulations in this chapter bear a divine significance and reveal God's mercy, grace, wisdom, and sovereignty. As the book of Numbers reveals, in that narrow strip of land, the land of Canaan, God exercised His mercy, grace, wisdom, and sovereignty. Surely this book was inspired by God! If there were no God, such a book could never have been written. Only through God's mercy, grace, wisdom, and sovereignty can we understand the book of Numbers.