Exodus 24:6–8

The next morning early, Moses built an altar under the burning mountain, and set up twelve pillars. The altar stood for the Lord's presence, the pillars stood for Israel. On the altar Moses placed the confirming blood, the death-bond — sealing, in a sense, the covenant on God's part. On the twelve pillars he threw some of the same blood, confirming the covenant on Israel's part.

The first question must be what the blood means. It cannot be atonement, because the people and the book are sprinkled just as the altar is; nor, for the same reason, could it be cleansing. The life is in the blood (Lev. 17:11). So the blood — the shedding of it — stands for death. And death, when connected with sacrifice, stands for the penalty of sin. So here the sprinkling of the blood signifies death as the penal sanction of the law. The people promised obedience, and then they, as well as the book, were sprinkled to teach that death would be the penalty for breaking the law.

The first covenant was inaugurated with blood, as we read in Ex. 24. This is not redemption. It stands in the strongest contrast with it. The picture of redemption had already been given (Ex. 12, 14) in the blood of the passover lamb, followed by the crossing of the Red Sea. The blood sheltered them from the judgment of God. The power that came next set the people free from their enemies, who were destroyed for ever… It was the old covenant, not the new; the law, not redemption… So it was in no way propitiatory but penal.

The witness of death is deeply stamped on this chapter. The blood sprinkled on the altar pictures the work by which God has been glorified. Christ died under the solemn curse of a broken law. In this way He established the will of God, walking a path of unswerving obedience to that will. That path led only to the cross, where the authority of the law was upheld and every penalty for breaking it was borne.

The blood at Sinai was meant as the sign of death which must be Israel's portion if the covenant was violated. But what a different voice the blood of Christ has! It not only speaks better things than that of Abel, but also better things than that of Sinai. It speaks of atonement made, of redemption accomplished.

The apostle teaches us that it was "impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." Yet it did "sanctify for the purification of the flesh." As "a shadow of the good things to come," it served to keep the people in relationship with the Lord.

When Moses came to the people and told them "all the words of the LORD and all the rules," they all answered with one voice: "All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do." Moses then wrote all these words in a book. Exodus 24:7 calls it "the book of the covenant," and Hebrews 9:19 calls it "the book itself." The terms recorded in this book were to govern how the covenant relationship began and continued.

From the first, they fooled themselves into thinking it was easy to keep all the Lord's commands. They were a self-satisfied and self-deceived people. They needed to learn the truth about themselves; and "through the law comes knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20)... The people's response was unanimous: "All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient." But they were not obedient. Sin within them was too strong... God said, "You shall have no other gods." They said, "We will have them. Aaron, make us a golden calf."

Up to that time, since their redemption from the land of Egypt, they had been under grace. God had borne them on eagles' wings, and brought them to Himself. Grace had set them free... and grace had sustained, provided for, borne with, and guided them, until that moment... They accepted the condition offered to them. The sprinkled blood declared the penalty for breaking it: death. From then on they stood on a new footing and relationship with God. Already they were God's people by redemption. Now they forgot the three months since they crossed the Red Sea, and their continual sins. They said they were ready to abandon the ground of grace, and to accept that of responsibility.

It was the old covenant, not the new; the law, not redemption. As Hebrews states, the blood was sprinkled on the book and all the people. It only set forth death as the penalty of disobedience. So it was in no way propitiatory but penal.

The people promised obedience, and then they, as well as the book, were sprinkled to teach that death would be the penalty of transgression... It is the same now in principle with all who accept the ground of law as the way of life, all who are trusting to their own works as the condition of blessing. They know it not, but by doing so they are really binding on their shoulders the curse of the law, like the Israelites in this scene.

The sprinkling of the people seems to have reminded them that death was the penalty of disobedience. The sprinkling of the book, on the other hand, shows that death was necessary as the basis of everything.

It is striking that in Exodus 20, after God had given the ten commandments, He speaks at once of the altar, and of burnt offerings and peace offerings; and it is the same in this chapter. God's desire is to dwell with His people. That could not happen on the ground of man's own obedience in the flesh. It could only come by the obedience of the true Mediator, even to death, the death of the cross.

Israel stood pledged to obey the law and sprinkled with the blood which declared death the penalty for breaking it. The Christian shares the life of Christ, and that life lives in obedience — the obedience of a son, of which Christ was the perfect expression. He is also sprinkled with His blood, and that blood declares him perfectly cleansed from his sins before God.

The first covenant was inaugurated with blood, as we read in Exodus 24. This is not redemption, but in the strongest contrast with it. God had already pictured redemption in the blood of the Passover lamb and in the crossing of the Red Sea... But now Israel, far from God, had agreed to stand on the condition of their own obedience, and God had spoken the ten commandments that would put the people to the test... It was the old covenant, not the new; the law, not redemption. As this letter states, Moses sprinkled the blood on the book and on all the people. It simply showed death as the penalty of disobedience. So it was in no way propitiatory but penal.

It cannot be atonement, because Moses sprinkled the people and the book just as he sprinkled the altar. For the same reason it cannot be cleansing. The life is in the blood. So shedding blood stands for death, and death in a sacrifice is the penalty of sin... The people promised obedience. Then Moses sprinkled them, and the book too, to teach that death would be the penalty for breaking the law.

Still, the people said, through their elders, "We will risk the consequences. We can trust ourselves. We believe we can love God with all our hearts and our neighbours as ourselves. We will undertake it, and we will endure the penalty if we fail."... It was a covenant of death, but they accepted it.

They took on obedience with death as the penalty. So the apostle could well say, "all who rely on works of the law are under a curse." It is the same in principle now with everyone who takes law-keeping as the way of life, everyone who trusts their own works as the condition of blessing. They do not know it, but they are really binding the curse of the law on their own shoulders, like the Israelites in this scene, and accepting death as the penalty of disobedience.

There was no "death of the one who made the will" under the old covenant, yet the need for a death was still acknowledged in picture form. Turn to Exodus 24:7 and 8 and we find the same incident, and we may note a remarkable fact. Exodus records only the sprinkling of the people with blood; Hebrews adds that the book of the law was also sprinkled.

The blood was meant as the sign of death, which had to be Israel's portion if they broke the covenant. But what a different voice the blood of Christ has!... It speaks of atonement made, of redemption accomplished. Blessed be God, it has been applied to us. The sprinkling of it on us has made us clean before God, and every sin has gone from the conscience. Because of it, we may come near to God with no veil in the way, and worship in His holy presence. This is the happy place of the Christian.

This explains the words in Hebrews about a person who falls away from the faith. He is said to have "profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified." The blood sprinkled on the people showed death as the penalty the law carried. By that very act it also brought them under the obligation to obey. It was for this they were set apart. So in God's eyes all His people now on the earth are seen as sprinkled under the value of the blood of Christ, and so set apart to Him for His service.