The Tabernacle Practices: Day of Atonement

Mike Harbrecht

Leviticus 16:2 “And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the veil before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.”

The Israelites were dependent upon the priests for their Tabernacle

worship. But even the High Priest was only allowed into the Holy of

Holies once a year on this day.

This is referring to the Holy of Holies, not The Holy Place.

Originally the people were to be allowed into the Tabernacle to worship and perform all the ordinances. But, because of their wickedness they lost this privilege. Instead, the High Priest was to present Himself to the Lord on behalf of the people. This could only be done once a year on the Day of Atonement.

“Of all the religious days in the Hebrew calendar, the day of Atonement was the most solemn and sacred. All manual labor stopped, and there was no feasting of frolicking.”1

Leviticus 16:32-34 “And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest’s office in his father’s stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments…

…And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation…

…And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year…”

Leviticus 16:29 “And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month...”

The Day of Atonement is also called “Yom Kippur.”

High Priestly Clothing

Leviticus 16:4 “He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on.”

High Priestly Clothing

“The high priest put off the official robes he normally wore and clothed himself in simple, white linen garments.”2

High Priestly Clothing

“The high priest wore four vestments on the Day of Atonement. The vestments, white in color, included a girdle, tunic, mitre, and breeches.”3

“The high priest, clothed in white linen, took a bullock as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering for himself and his house; and two he-goats as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering for the congregation of Israel.” (Bible Dictionary: “Fasts”)

“The high priest had to go through meticulous preparation to be worthy to act as the officiator for the rest of the house of Israel. This included sacrifices for himself and his house, as well as washing and purification through the sprinkling of sacrificial blood on various objects in the tabernacle.”4

“Christ is the great high priest (Hebrews 3:1) who, unlike the high priest of the Aaronic Priesthood, was holy and without spot and did not need to make atonement for his own sins before he could be worthy to officiate for Israel and enter the holy of holies (Hebrews 7:26–27). His perfect life was the ultimate fulfillment of the symbol of wearing white garments.”5

Leviticus 16:7-8 “And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat.”

Leviticus 16:11  “And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself.”

After making any sin offering, the blood from the sacrifice would be placed on the 4 horns of the altar of sacrifice, the 4 horns of the altar of

incense, and smeared on the veil 7 times.

Leviticus 16:12-13  “And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil: And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not.”

The altar of incense

Into the Holy of Holies

The smoke from the burning incense would cover the mercy seat and that is where the Lord would appear to

commune with the High Priest.

Normally, incense was burned in the morning and in the evening every single day. The high priest would take coals from the altar of sacrifice and place them on the altar of incense. It was from these coals that the incense would burn.

On the Day of Atonement, the high priest burned the incense in a different manner. After placing blood from the altar of sacrifice upon the four horns of the altar of incense, the high priest would burn some of the incense upon the altar.

He then would enter into the Holy of Holies holding incense in his hand, in a special censer, or in one of the golden spoons.6 Using the coals and incense he then would burn the incense so that the burning caused smoke to cover the mercy seat where Jehovah could speak with him.7

“Later, a controversy arose as to where the incense was to be added to the fire in the spoon. The Sadducees held that the priest must add the incense to the fire before he entered the veil, lest he see the glory of God and die…

…The Pharisees insisted that he wait until after entering the Holy of Holies before igniting the incense.”8

Leviticus 16:14 “And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.”

Leviticus 16:15 “Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat.”

“Similar sprinklings were made with the blood of both animals (bullock and goat) on the altar of incense (Ex. 30:10;Lev. 16:15) to make an atonement for the Holy Place.” (Bible Dictionary: “Fasts”)

“Lastly, an atonement was made for the altar of burnt offering in a similar manner.” (Bible Dictionary: “Fasts”)

Leviticus 16:21-22  “And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat…

The Israelites believed in “The Laying on of

Hands.”

…and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.”

Leviticus 16:26 “And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp.”

Washing and purifying himself. Here is some

more rebirth symbolism.

“Two goats were chosen by lot. One was designated as the goat of the Lord, and one was designated as the scapegoat, or in Hebrew, the goat of Azazel. The goat of Jehovah was offered as a sin offering, and the high priest took its blood into the holy of holies of the tabernacle and sprinkled it on the lid of the ark of the covenant (called the ‘mercy seat’), thus making atonement for the sins of Israel.”9

“The other goat, Azazel, was brought before the high priest, who laid his hands upon its head and symbolically transferred all of the sins of Israel to it. Then it was taken out into the wilderness and released where it would never be seen again.”10

Leviticus 16:23-24 “And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there: And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments…

…and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people.”

After making any burnt offering, the blood from the sacrifice would be smeared on the altar of sacrifice round about.

Leviticus 16:25 “And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar.”

Leviticus 16:27 “And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung.”

This was in symbolism of getting rid of the entire

sin and everything it touched.

Leviticus 16:28  “And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.”

Hebrews 10:3-4 “But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.”

Bruce R. McConkie

“Deity rent the veil of the temple ‘from the top to the bottom.’ The Holy of Holies is now open to all, and all, through the atoning blood of the Lamb, can now enter into the highest and holiest of all places, that kingdom where eternal life is found…

Bruce R. McConkie

…Paul, in expressive language (Heb 9, Heb 10), shows how the ordinances performed through the veil of the ancient temple were in similitude of what Christ was to do, which He now having done, all men become eligible to pass through the veil into the presence of the Lord to inherit full exaltation.”11

View “Ritually Entering into the Presence of God:

Veil” Presenation.

Footnote Source Information

1 Old Testament Student Manual Genesis-2 Samuel. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1980, 1981, 2003, 180-183.

2 Keil, Carl Friedrich and Franz Delitzsch. Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, 10 vols. 1857-1878. Reprint, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1975, 1:398. Quoted in Old Testament Student Manual Genesis-2 Samuel. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1980, 1981, 2003, chapter 15.

3 Parry, Donald W. "Ritual Anointing with Olive Oil in Ancient Israelite Religion." In The Allegory of the Olive Tree: The Olive, the Bible, and Jacob 5, edited by Stephen D. Ricks and John W. Welch. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1994.

4 Keil, Carl Friedrich and Franz Delitzsch. Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, 10 vols. 1857-1878. Reprint, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1975, 1:398. Quoted in Old Testament Student Manual Genesis-2 Samuel. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1980, 1981, 2003, chapter 15.

Footnote Source Information

5 Lund, Gerald N. “Old Testament Types and Symbols,” in Literature of Belief: Sacred Scripture and Religious Experience, ed. Neal E. Lambert. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1981, 187-188. Quoted in Old Testament Student Manual Genesis-2 Samuel. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1980, 1981, 2003, chapter 15.

6 Hilton, Lynn M. and Hope Hilton, "The Hand As A Cup In Ancient Temple Worship." In Discovering Lehi: New Evidence of Lehi and Nephi in Arabia. Springville, Utah: Cedar Fort, 1996,2.

7 Carroll, James L. and Elizabeth M. Siler. "Let My Prayer Be Set Before Thee: The Burning of Incense in the Temple Cult of Ancient Israel." Studia Antiqua 2, no. 2, (2002): 29-30.

8 Hilton, Lynn M. and Hope Hilton, "The Hand As A Cup In Ancient Temple Worship." In Discovering Lehi: New Evidence of Lehi and Nephi in Arabia. Springville, Utah: Cedar Fort, 1996,2. See also Lauterbach, J.F. Hebrew Union College Annual, 173-205. This citation comes from the article “The Hand As a Cup in Ancient Temple Worship” and has an unusual citation on page two.

Footnote Source Information

9 Keil, Carl Friedrich and Franz Delitzsch. Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, 10 vols. 1857-1878. Reprint, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1975, 1:398. Quoted in Old Testament Student Manual Genesis-2 Samuel. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1980, 1981, 2003, chapter 15.

10 Old Testament Student Manual Genesis-2 Samuel. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1980, 1981, 2003, chapter 15.

11 McConkie, Bruce R. Doctrinal New Testament Commentary. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965, 1:830. Quoted in Old Testament Teacher Resource Manual. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1998, 2003, 87-90.