But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. (12) Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood.  He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.  (13) For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, (14) how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews is unknown. It was written to a group of Hebrew Christians to encourage them to be steadfast in the Christian faith in times of persecution. Our verses today focus on the superiority of Jesus Christ as our high priest in comparison with the sketch high priest who was a shadow of the Messiah To come.  Our author of Hebrews is centered on the tabernacle itself comparing it with the true tabernacle which is in heaven.

Only the high priest could enter the holy of Holies – the inner room of the tabernacle – and enter it only once a year on the day of Atonement. This system provided for the High Priest to offer a blood sacrifice – the blood of a bull for his own sins; the blood of a goat for the sins of the people. The second goat was the scapegoat and carried the sins of the people into the wilderness and was let go.

Thr High Priest was the proper mediator and this practice shows that the people could not approach God on their own.  the ritual tells us that the sacrifice was limited and the way to God not yet revealed.  We can now understand that this is all pointing to Christ – the blood of Christ was the perfect sacrifice and we now have complete access to God. Christ did not go into the Holy of Holies, He went into heaven itself. The tabernacle made with human hands was only a picture.

Jesus Christ is Gods final revelation to us. Our verses are to remind us of the furnishing of the tabernacle and how that structure actually prevented man from approaching God. Christ is the ultimate High Priest, shedding his blood for us which dealt with our sins which stood between God and man. Those who trust in this atoning work are forgiven – they are clean and may draw near to God in worship and service.