What the Bible says about Blood Used to Purge the Horns of the Altar
(From Forerunner Commentary)
Leviticus 4 gives four slightly different sets of instructions for a sin offering, depending on who had committed the unintentional sin. Beginning in verse 3 are instructions for a sin offering for a priest. Verse 13 speaks of a sin offering for the whole congregation. Verse 22 covers a sin offering for a leader of the people, and then a sin offering for an individual is found in verse 27.
A significant point here is that there are instructions (in verse 13) for a sin offering for the whole congregation involving a young bull. However, what happened on the Day of Atonement, with its two goats as a sin offering, does not match those instructions. If a typical sin offering for the congregation would have sufficed, the instructions in verses 13-21 would have been used. But what happened on the Day of Atonement was not typical. God is showing a unique scenario altogether.
Regardless of who sinned, though, the same basic process was followed in a typical sin offering. First (verse 4), the guilty party—the priest, in this case—laid his hand on the head of the sacrificial animal. This symbolized the animal taking the place of the sinner. The substitute was identified through the laying on of a hand, and the sin was figuratively transferred to the animal. Second, the animal was killed. Third (verses 5-6), some of its blood was sprinkled in front of the veil of the Tabernacle. The blood did not go into the Holy of Holies, which further separates the typical sin offering from the compound sin offering on the Day of Atonement. Fourth (verse 7), some of the blood was put on the horns of the golden altar (or incense altar). The rest of the blood was poured at the base of the other, larger altar, the brazen altar. Fifth (verses 8-10), select parts of the animal were burned on the brazen altar. Finally (verses 11-12), the rest of the animal was burned outside the camp. The details vary slightly, but the same basic procedure is carried out in each of the four scenarios.
David C. Grabbe
Azazel: Endings
Notice there is no mention of the high priest laying hands on this first goat. Likewise, in verses 11-14, there is no mention of the priest laying his hand on the bull for himself, which was a requirement of the typical sin offering for the priest (Leviticus 4:4). All the other steps for a sin offering are shown, though, so the differences stand out.
If we take this as it is written and not infer any steps, the bull for the high priest and the first goat share two elements: First, there is no mention of hands being laid on either. Second, their blood was taken inside the Holy of Holies. Both are significant differences from a typical sin offering. Everything else for the bull for the high priest is the same—part is burned on the altar, and its carcass is burned outside the camp. But no transference is shown, and the blood is allowed inside the veil, into God's very presence.
These differences indicate the blood of these animals was pure, which is why it could be used to purge the horns of the altar. Only blood that did not represent sin was brought inside the veil. The blood from every other sin offering stopped at the veil.
So, the priest used the bull's and the first goat's blood to purify the various holy objects, beginning with God's throne—the Mercy Seat—and working outward. Notice, though, in the explanation about what the first goat's blood makes atonement for: to make atonement for the Holy Place, the Tabernacle of Meeting, and the altar. On account of the people—meaning because of their sinfulness—these things needed annual purging, but the stated purpose was for cleansing the things of the LORD. Atonement was made for the objects closest to the LORD since the people were sinful.
David C. Grabbe
Azazel: Endings