Heb 9:3-14 | TNotes | STEP | 9:3 At the back of the first room of the Tabernacle was a curtain that separated the first room from the second room called the Most Holy Place (Exod 26:31-33 ). This curtain was a sacred barrier: Only the high priest could go behind it into the Most Holy Place, and only once a year on the Day of Atonement (Heb 9:7 ; see Exod 30:6 , 10 ; Lev 16:2-34 ; 23:27-32 ).

9:3 ^a At the back of the first room of the Tabernacle was a curtain that separated the first room from the second room called the Most Holy Place (Exod 26:31-33 ^b). This curtain was a sacred barrier: Only the high priest could go behind it into the Most Holy Place, and only once a year on the Day of Atonement (Heb 9:7 ^c; see Exod 30:6 ^d, 10 ^e; Lev 16:2-34 ^f; 23:27-32 ^g).
9:4 ^h The gold incense altar probably stood just outside the inner curtain (Exod 30:1-10 ⁱ); its location is ambiguous at points in the Old Testament, but it was closely associated with the Most Holy Place (Exod 30:6 ^j; Lev 16:13 ^k; 1 Kgs 6:22 ^l).

• Since it represented the presence of God, the Ark of the Covenant was the most important item in the Tabernacle (see Exod 25:10-22 ^m).

• The gold jar containing manna was a reminder of God’s provision in the wilderness (Exod 16:32-34 ⁿ).

• Aaron’s staff that sprouted leaves (see Num 17:1-11 ^o) was a reminder not to rebel against God’s chosen leaders (Num 17:10 ^p; cp. Heb 13:17 ^q).

• The stone tablets of the covenant held the Ten Commandments and were to remind the people of the terms by which they were to live out the covenant (Exod 25:16 ^r; 31:18 ^s; Deut 9:9–10:5 ^t).
9:5 ^u The cherubim of divine glory were statues of angels formed into the Ark’s cover. This category of angels is especially associated with God’s glorious presence (Gen 3:24 ^v; Pss 80:1 ^w; 99:1 ^x; Isa 37:16 ^y). The Ark’s cover itself was the place of atonement, on which the blood from the Day of Atonement sacrifice was to be sprinkled (Lev 16:14-16 ^z).

• But we cannot explain these things in detail now: The main focus of the discussion is the offering of sacrifices under the old covenant (Heb 9:6-10 ^aa).
Summary for Heb 9:6-8: 9:6-8 ^ab The worship practices in the Holy Place, the first room of the Tabernacle (9:2 ^ac), were the duty of the priests, who kept the lamps lit and the sacred loaves of bread replenished (Exod 27:20-21 ^ad; Lev 24:8 ^ae).
9:7 ^af The yearly duty was carried out on the Day of Atonement, when the high priest offered sacrifices for the sins not covered by other sacrifices during the previous year (Lev 16:1-25 ^ag).
9:8 ^ah was not freely open: Free entrance into the presence of God was not available to all of the people under the old covenant system.

• The outer room of the Tabernacle, which served as a sacred barrier keeping the people from the presence of God in the Most Holy Place, was symbolic of the whole system. Under that system, people were kept out of God’s presence rather than led into it.
9:9 ^ai This is an illustration: The problem with the gifts and sacrifices of the old covenant is that they were not able to cleanse the consciences of the people—they could not remove people’s guilt before a holy God (cp. 9:14 ^aj; 10:2 ^ak, 22 ^al; 13:18 ^am).
9:10 ^an The old system dealt only with physical regulations, and it could not deal with the condition of the heart (8:10 ^ao; 10:21-24 ^ap). Consequently, it was provisional, only intended to last until Christ could come and establish a better system (9:11–10:18 ^aq).
Summary for Heb 9:11-10:18: 9:11–10:18 ^ar The author now contrasts the old system (9:1-10 ^as) with the superior sacrifice made by Christ as High Priest: The blood of Christ’s offering was his own blood, not the blood of animals (9:13-22 ^at; cp. 9:7 ^au); Christ’s offering was made in the heavenly Tabernacle, not the earthly one (9:23-24 ^av; cp. 9:1-5 ^aw); and Christ’s offering, rather than being made continually, was made just one time (9:25–10:18 ^ax; cp. 7:27 ^ay; 9:6-7 ^az). 9:11 ^ba Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things of the new covenant. He was appointed by God in accord with Ps 110:4 ^bb (Heb 5:1-10 ^bc; 7:1-28 ^bd) and offered a superior offering.

• that have come: Some manuscripts read that are about to come, either from the perspective of the old covenant era or looking forward to the culmination of God’s plan in the future.

• Christ’s sacrifice is superior because of where it was made: in that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven rather than the earthly Tabernacle (see 8:5 ^be and corresponding study note).
9:12 ^bf Christ’s offering is superior because it was made with his own blood rather than the blood of goats and calves (e.g., cp. Lev 16:3-5 ^bg).

• Christ’s offering is superior because he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time. Unlike the sacrifices in the old covenant, which had to be made year after year (Heb 10:1 ^bh), Jesus’ sacrificial death only had to be made once and was decisive in securing our redemption forever.
9:13 ^bi The ashes of a heifer were used with water to cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity (see Num 19 ^bj).
9:14 ^bk how much more: This is an argument from lesser to greater, a traditional Jewish rhetorical strategy; the logic is that if something is true in a lesser situation, it will be even more true in a greater situation (see also 2:1-4 ^bl; 12:25-29 ^bm). If the blood of animals had some effect in cleansing, the blood of Christ will be much more effective.

• will purify our consciences: Christ’s sacrifice, unlike the sacrifices of the old covenant, removes the paralyzing guilt that keeps us from God by decisively cleansing us from sinful deeds.