“He shall go out to the altar that is before Jehovah and make expiation for it, and he shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on and around the horns of the altar ” (Lev. 16:18). Putting the blood on and around the four horns of the burnt offering altar signifies that the efficacy of the redemption of the blood of Christ is for the four corners of the earth. The blood of the bull was for Aaron and his household, the blood of the goat was for the entire people of Israel, and the four horns of the altar point toward the four directions of the earth. Therefore, putting the blood of the bull and the goat on and around the horns of the altar signifies that the efficacy of the redemption of the blood of Christ is toward the four corners of the earth for the people in every direction of the earth, as the apostle says in 1 John 2:2: “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for those of the whole world.” This shows that the sphere reached by the efficacy of the redemption by the blood of Christ is inclusive and extensive.
The blood of the bull and the goat was not only put on and around the horns of the altar but also sprinkled on the altar seven times (Lev. 16:19a). This signifies that the full efficacy of the blood shed on the cross by Christ is so that the sinner may look at it and be at peace in his heart. When we, as sinners, look at the blood sprinkled on the altar, we know that our sin and sins have been dealt with. Knowing that the problem of sin has been solved, we have peace in our heart.
The blood sprinkled on the altar was for the peace of the sinner, but the blood sprinkled on the expiation cover was for God’s satisfaction. The blood was sprinkled first on the expiation cover within the veil. This was for God to see. It was for His satisfaction. Then the blood was sprinkled on the offering altar in the outer court. This was for the sinner to see. It was for his satisfaction. Both God and man are satisfied through the redeeming blood of Christ.
Leviticus 16:19b tells us that Aaron was to cleanse the altar and “sanctify it from the uncleannesses of the children of Israel.” This signifies that all the world’s sins were gathered upon the cross of Christ and resolved. Uncleannesses here refers to our sin, to our leprosy, to our rebellion, and even to the satanic nature within us. Because the people of God were in this uncleanness, even the altar used by God for the redemption of His people was contaminated. By the cross of Christ this uncleanness has been dealt with and taken away. Now there is a clean situation in which we and God may enjoy each other and have peace with one another.
Man is sinful and unclean before God and needs God to take away his sins. However, in the Old Testament the taking away of sins through the redemption of Christ, which God foreordained, was not yet accomplished. Hence, God set up the expiation as a symbol of the redemption which was to come.
In the Old Testament the two tablets of the Testimony, the two tablets of the law, were placed in the Ark within the Holy of Holies. The Ten Commandments on the two tablets exposed and condemned the sins of the people who came to meet with God, making it impossible for God to meet with the sinners. However, the tablets of the law which exposed and condemned the people’s sins were covered by the lid of the Ark with the expiating blood sprinkled on it. Based upon the redemption which was to be accomplished by Christ and to which the expiation blood on the lid pointed, God could pass over the sins covered by the lid to meet with man. These covered sins were not taken away; they remained until Christ came. Then they were taken away by the eternal redemption which He accomplished. Therefore, on this lid the expiating blood of the bulls and goats accomplished the covering of sins, not the actual taking away of sins.
With the type of expiation we can see how Christ accomplished for the sinners the taking away of sins in the New Testament age. First, the goat was slaughtered as a sin offering for the people, typifying Christ, who was made in the likeness of the flesh of sin, as the sin offering for sinners. Then the blood of the goat was brought inside the veil and sprinkled on and before the expiation cover, signifying that the blood of Christ was brought into the Holy of Holies in the heavens to accomplish eternal redemption for us. Then the blood was put on and around the four horns of the altar and sprinkled on the altar seven times, signifying that the efficacy of the redemption of Christ is for the four corners of the earth and that the full efficacy of the blood of Christ is so that the sinner may look at it and be at peace in his heart. Thus, we and God may enjoy each other and have peace with one another in a clean situation.