The Earthly Sanctuary

1Now ²⁷even the first ²⁸covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary.

2For a tabernacle was prepared. In the first room were the lampstand, the table, and the bread of the Presence; this is called the Holy Place.

3Behind the second veil was a room called the Holy of Holies.

4It had a golden censer and the ark of the covenant, which was overlaid on all sides with gold. In the ark were the golden jar containing the manna, the rod of Aaron that had budded, and the tablets of the covenant.

5Above the ark were the cherubim of glory, overshadowing the mercy seat. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.

6When these things were all in place, the priests regularly entered the first room of the tabernacle, performing their sacred duties.

7But into the second room, the high priest alone entered only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people.

8By this arrangement the Holy Spirit was showing that the way into the holy places had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing.

9This is a symbol for the present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper,

10but deal only with food and drink, and various ²⁹washings and regulations for the flesh, imposed until the time of reformation.

Redemption Through the Blood of Christ

11But when Christ came as high priest of the good things ³⁰to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands (that is, not of this creation),

12he entered once for all into the holy places, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.

13For if the blood of ³¹bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are defiled, sanctify for the purification of the flesh,

14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the ³²eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify ³³your consciences from dead works to serve the living God?

15That is why he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

16For in the case of a will, it is necessary to establish the death of the one who made it,

17because a will takes effect only after the person's death; it is ³⁴never in force while the person who made it is alive.

18That is why even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood.

19For when Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves ³⁵and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll itself and all the people,

20saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has ordained for you.”

21In the same way, he sprinkled with blood the tabernacle and all the vessels used in worship.

22Indeed, according to the law nearly everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission.

23So it was necessary for the copies of the things in heaven to be purified with these sacrifices, but for the heavenly things themselves to be purified with better sacrifices than these.

24For Christ did not enter holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true ones; he entered heaven itself, so that he might now appear before God on our behalf.

25Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself many times, as the high priest enters the holy places year after year with blood that is not his own,

26for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.

27And just as it is appointed for men to die once and then face judgment,

28so also Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him.