Within the Veil
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. 20 “When he has finished atoning for the Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 21 Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them on the head of the goat, and shall send him away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is ready. 22 The goat shall carry all their iniquities on himself to a solitary land, and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.
Blood is carried inside to cleanse the sanctuary itself, and only afterward are the confessed sins loaded on a goat and led away.
The order of the day is exact, and the order is where the meaning is.
First the incense. Aaron carries coals and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small inside the veil, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat... so that he will not die Leviticus 16:12–13. He does not look at what he approaches; a cloud goes in ahead of him.
Then the blood, twice. The bull's blood for himself, sprinkled on the mercy seat and seven times before it Leviticus 16:14. Then the goat's blood for the people, handled the same way Leviticus 16:15.
And then the verse that states what the day is actually for.
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.
The object of the atonement is the sanctuary. Not the people directly — the building. Through the year, every sin offering had brought blood to the altar or into the holy place, and the record of all of it had accumulated where God lived. This day clears the place itself.
The reason is added in the same verse, and it is the most poignant clause in the chapter: the tent dwells with them in the middle of their uncleanness. He lives in the camp as it is.
The altar is cleansed too, with blood from both animals Leviticus 16:18–19, and the whole is done with nobody else present: no one shall be in the Tent of Meeting when he enters Leviticus 16:17.
Only when he has finished atoning for the Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar is the live goat brought Leviticus 16:20. The sequence forbids a common misreading: the second goat does not make atonement. Atonement is complete before it is touched.
What it does is carry. Aaron lays both his hands on its head — the only two-handed laying on in the book — and confesses all the iniquities... and all their transgressions, even all their sins, and shall put them on the head of the goat Leviticus 16:21.
Then it is led away by a man appointed for the purpose, and released. The goat shall carry all their iniquities on himself to a solitary land Leviticus 16:22.
What is being pictured is removal. The blood dealt with the guilt; the goat takes the sins somewhere nobody will find them, and the last thing anyone in Israel sees of them is an animal disappearing over a horizon.
settled What this mark means