Leviticus 16:11-19
Atonement must purify both the mediator and the place where God dwells among His people.
11 “Aaron shall present the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull of the sin offering which is for himself.
12 He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from off the altar before Yahweh, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil.
13 He shall put the incense on the fire before Yahweh, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the covenant, so that he will not die.
14 He shall take some of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
15 “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with his blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat.
16 He shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, even all their sins; and so he shall do for the Tent of Meeting that dwells with them in the middle of their uncleanness.
17 No one shall be in the Tent of Meeting when he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, and has made atonement for himself and for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel.
18 “He shall go out to the altar that is before Yahweh and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the bull’s blood, and some of the goat’s blood, and put it around on the horns of the altar.
19 He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and make it holy from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
Atonement must purify both the mediator and the place where God dwells among His people.
This passage details the high priest’s offering for himself and the application of sacrificial blood to cleanse the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting, and the altar from the impurities of Israel.
Leviticus 16:1-10 established the warning, restricted access, priestly preparation, and two-goat arrangement for the Day of Atonement. Verses 11-19 now narrate the inner rite itself: the bull for Aaron and his household, the incense cloud in the inner sanctuary, the goat for the people, and the blood application that purifies the sanctuary complex. This unit stands at the center of Leviticus 16 and gathers the impurity concerns of Leviticus 11-15 into an annual cleansing of the dwelling place of the LORD among Israel.
Leviticus 16 is given after the death of Aaron's sons and within the Sinai covenant order. Israel's sanctuary system required priestly mediation because the holy God dwelt in the midst of a people vulnerable to uncleanness and guilty of sin. The Day of Atonement provided an annual rite for cleansing the sanctuary complex and maintaining covenant access to the Lord's presence.
The Day of Atonement: Cleansing the Sanctuary and Bearing Away Israel's Sins
The holy LORD provides annual atonement through His appointed high priest, blood, substitution, confession, cleansing, and removal so that He may continue dwelling among His sinful and unclean people.