Having therefore, brethren, boldness for entering into the [holy of] holies by the blood of Jesus,
The letter to the Hebrews has been building toward this sentence: one sacrifice has settled the question of sin, and the door into God's presence now stands open. The whole weight of it rests on four words — "by the blood of Jesus."
The verse opens by looking back. Its "therefore" rests on the full forgiveness described just before it.
Under the Old Testament the Jews did not know this full forgiveness. They received a kind of pardon for each sin they committed. But the veil shut them out of the holiest. It hung in front of the place where God revealed Himself... Then came the real work that all these things pictured: the death of the Saviour. The veil of the temple tore in two from top to bottom. Now, on the strength of the work of Christ and the forgiveness of our sins, we are urged to draw near.
The design of the old tabernacle was itself a message.
What did it all mean? It certainly pointed forward to the blood of Christ as the only ground of approach to God. Yet through the whole arrangement the Holy Spirit was saying something else: in the old system there was no real approach to God at all. The way in was not yet made known... as long as the first tabernacle still had its standing before God, the rule was: no admittance.
The word translated "boldness" is about speech. It means having nothing left to hide.
The word for boldness means "all speech" — speaking everything, no concealment, perfect liberty. We do not come as people who hold something back in mind or heart. We do not come hiding things we have never brought into the light of His presence, things we would be afraid to have brought out... What possibility of concealment is there in His holy presence? Yet we have boldness, we have all speech, to enter His sanctuary by Christ's precious blood!
Everything depends on what gives the right of entry.
Suppose we claimed boldness to enter there because of our love or holiness, our new nature, or even a ceremony God Himself gave. That would be sheer and shameless presumption. Yet here it is calmly claimed for Christians. They are urged in the strongest terms to approach God's presence by faith, without a doubt or a cloud, now that their sins are gone. Boldness to enter there is due to the blood of Jesus. Only unbelief hinders.
Ridout puts the same test in personal terms:
Do I have boldness to draw near to God on the ground that I have known Him for many years? Or that I have had a happy past experience? Or that I have been serving the Lord faithfully and have honoured Him? No — by the blood of Jesus. That precious blood, which has glorified God, is our only title to enter there.
Where the ESV says "the holy places," older translations say "the holiest" — the inner room, and so God's own presence itself. The verse treats entry there as something we already have.
Remember, this is not about entering a place or temple of worship on earth. It is really the holiest of all, the very presence of God in heaven. Now then, reader, does the blood of Jesus give you boldness to enter? Or do you need something else? Whatever it is, it would deny the eternal value of that one sacrifice. It is not that we hope to have it. We have it now: "since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus."
The first readers knew a system where even the high priest had no such freedom:
No Jew, not even the high priest, had boldness to enter the holiest made with hands. We have boldness to enter the holiest not made with hands — in spirit now, and in actual presence when the Lord comes. A converted Hebrew reading this would say to himself at once: we are made priests, in a far higher sense than Aaron's family ever were. He would be right!
If every believer may enter, no human go-between is needed.
This chapter also ruled out the idea of a sacrificing priesthood down here, standing between me and God. The work of Christ has given us our position: direct access to God in full confidence.
- Blood — the cause. The way is open for one reason: the blood of Jesus. To add our love, holiness, experience or service is "shameless presumption."
- Blood — the gift. The old system said "no admittance." Now we have boldness — "all speech," nothing hidden, nothing feared.
- Blood — the reach. It brings us not to a building but into the very presence of God in heaven, and it does so now, not one day.
- Blood — the rank. Every believer is made a priest in a higher sense than Aaron's family ever were.
- Blood — the result. Access is direct, so no human priest stands between the believer and God. Only unbelief keeps anyone outside.
the new and living way which he has dedicated for us through the veil, that is, his flesh,
This verse names the road that brings believers into God's presence. It is new, it is living, and Christ Himself opened it. Two questions follow. Why call the way living when a death opened it? And what does it mean that the curtain is the body of the One who leads us in?
The word "new" here has a literal sense that points straight to a sacrifice.
The verse calls it "a new and living way." Literally it means "a newly slaughtered way." It rests on the offering of a recent sacrifice, the sacrifice of Christ. In that way He has opened a way in for us "through the veil, that is to say His flesh." Even now, so long after that sacrifice, it still holds its power, still "a newly slaughtered way."
A death opened this way, yet it is called living. That reverses how things stood under the law.
Under the law, for anyone to draw near to the presence of God was death; under Christ, it is death to stay away. What a wonderful contrast! Under the law, fire came out from the sanctuary and struck down anyone who dared to draw near. Through the work of Christ we now draw near, and the way is a way of life. The nearer we live to our blessed God, the more we will know the strength, freshness and energy of that life. We draw it from a divine source.
The curtain, or veil, shut off the innermost room of the tabernacle — Israel's tent of worship. It stood for the human life of Christ on earth. His sinless Manhood is what kept the way closed.
The veil separated the two holy places, and it is explained for us here: "that is to say, His flesh." His perfect Manhood was an absolute barrier to man's entrance into God's presence. In that blessed Manhood of Christ, God had shown that only perfection satisfied Him. But the death of Christ — the tearing of the veil from top to bottom — is the wonderful work that opens the way into God's presence for sinners.
But what remains of that veil now that Christ is risen?
A crucified Christ is the torn veil through which we draw near to God. The marks of the tearing will always remain. In the risen Lord we have the memorial of His finished work and the witness of His perfect humanity, all there — not as a barrier to the soul, but as the very way of access to God.
When the temple curtain split at the death of Jesus, movement began in both directions at once.
In the tabernacle God was shut up within the veil. On His part there was no coming out, and on man's part there was no going in… On the cross this veil was torn. The death of Christ was the tearing of the veil… God has come out to man in perfect love, and now man can go in to God by that way which has been dedicated through the veil… So not only are our consciences purged; our hearts are won too. God's presence, which we so much dreaded, has become our eternal home, and nowhere in the universe are we so welcome.
Commentators differ over how closely the torn temple curtain fits this verse. One writer draws a distinction between the two buildings.
The verse says the way is "through the veil, that is, His flesh," meaning His Manhood. It is by becoming man He has opened the way for us into the presence of God. Both revelation and approach are complete in Him… The tearing of the veil of the Temple when He died pictures God coming out in revelation in Him. The veil of the Tabernacle shows more of our going in to God. That is the building this letter has in view, not the Temple.
The verb translated "consecrated" in older versions carries the sense of opening something for use.
The other reference is in Hebrews 10:20, where it is rendered in the Authorised Version as "consecrated," but is actually the word "dedicated," and is so translated by J. N. Darby.
A way opened at that price puts a question to everyone who hears about it.
The death of our Substitute has become the way of life and blessing to us, the way to God. It has removed our sins and met the question of our sinful nature… We can draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, by a new and living way, which He has dedicated for us. What a word that is! Shall we be indifferent to, and despise, a way that He has dedicated for us at such a cost?
- Newly slain. The way is "new" in the sense of freshly sacrificed. Time has not weakened its power.
- Newly living. The same death that opened it makes it a way of life. Under the law, drawing near meant death. Now staying away does.
- Newly opened. The curtain is His flesh. His perfect Manhood barred the way in, until His death tore that barrier apart.
- Newly dedicated. He dedicated the way for us Himself, and at great cost.
- Newly welcomed. God has come out in love and man goes in — the presence once dreaded becomes the place where we are most welcome.
and [having] a great priest over the house of God,
Hebrews 10 has just said the way into God's presence stands open through the blood of Jesus. Now it adds another ground of confidence: not only a way in, but a Person set over God's household. Two questions follow. Why does it say "great priest" and not high priest? And what is "the house of God"?
One writer ties this title to the new standing of the worshippers themselves.
It is literally a great Priest over the house of God, or "great High Priest," as we have it in the fourth chapter. The worshippers themselves now enter the privileged place of the High Priest. In this respect they take the standing of high priests, not simply of priests entering the holy place. So they need a great Priest — one who is over the house, even over them. This must not be forgotten. We are not priests in our own right, and we have no right of our own to move freely in the house — everything hangs on the great Priest.
His greatness also sets Him apart from the old priestly line that came from Aaron, Israel's first high priest.
We next read of the One who represents us in the sanctuary before God — a great Priest, as He is called. He is Priest after the order of Melchizedek, and so far surpasses Aaron or any of his line.
"House" here is not a building but people — and the letter has already named them.
In verse 21 He is called, not a High Priest, but a "Great Priest over the house of God." Earlier in the letter we read of Him as both Priest and Son, and then it added, "and we are His house" (Hebrews 3:6). We are God's house, God's priestly family. Over us is this Great Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, and we have full access to God.
That relationship also fixes where His priesthood operates.
Moses was faithful in God's house in the wilderness as a servant. Christ is over God's House — made up of God's people — as Son. So presenting the people of God as the House of God shows where Christ exercises His priesthood.
The blood opens the way. But an open way alone would leave the worshipper uneasy about staying there, so verse 21 adds a third ground of confidence.
Verse 21 gives a third encouragement to enjoy this access in practice. Without it all the rest would be in vain. We could never feel at ease in God's most holy presence without knowing one thing. He who is the living way of our access is Himself in that presence for ever as the ministering Priest. His constant intercession is the power that sustains His people's hope.
One writer sets two works of Christ side by side: one finished, one still going on.
His finished work on the Cross gives us boldness to draw near. His unfinished work, His present priestly service, lets us stand with confidence before our God and Father as glad worshippers. So even now our offerings of praise through Him may be more and more abundant, though the darkness deepens in the Christian world.
Our own weakness, then, is not what decides whether we may come.
In heaven itself Christ now appears before the face of God for us. Through His sacrifice we no longer have any consciousness of sins, and He is there as the proof that we are perfected without a break. He is above to maintain us, despite our weakness and exposure here, according to the cleansing of His blood and the nearness it gives to those who believe.
If Christ holds this position, no one else can hold it. One writer applies that to drawing near through a human priest.
To draw near through any man-appointed leader or priest is to ignore the priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ… It is true that all who are living stones in the spiritual house, of which Christ is the Cornerstone, are also "a holy priesthood." He has washed them from their sins in His blood and made them "priests to His God and Father" (Rev. 1:6). But there is no other High Priest but Himself.
- Priest. "Great" sets Him above Aaron's whole line; He serves after the order of Melchizedek.
- House. The house is not a building but God's people. Christ is over it as Son; Moses only served inside it as a servant.
- Ground. The blood opens the way; the great Priest keeps us at ease in it. Without Him, the rest would be wasted.
- Keeping. His finished work gives boldness to enter; His continuing service keeps us there, weak as we are.
- Result. He alone is Priest over the house. So every believer draws near directly, and putting a human priest in His place sets Him aside.
let us approach with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, sprinkled as to our hearts from a wicked conscience, and washed as to our body with pure water.
This verse is the first appeal that follows the long argument about Christ's one sacrifice. It answers a question no Israelite could answer: on what terms may a person come right into God's presence?
The call to draw near rests on what comes before it. And that argument says nothing about anything we have done.
This is the first exhortation founded on the teaching about the sacrificial service of our High Priest, and it is a most significant one. For we have read nothing of what Christians have done, or could do, to entitle them to such an invitation. The whole teaching of the section (7:26 — 10:18) has been about the Lord Jesus, and what He has done and has suffered. Now the blessed consequence to believers is that they have boldness to enter the Holiest by His blood. They have done nothing towards this. They could do nothing... All boasting is for ever silenced as we read that we have this boldness only by (or in virtue of) the blood of Jesus.
Israel's high priest entered the innermost room of the tabernacle under warning of death. That memory sharpens the invitation here.
Aaron entered the holiest with fear and trembling. God gave Moses the words "that he die not" (Lev. 16:2, 13) to pass on to Aaron. How different it is now! We have "boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus." Answering to the picture of the consecration of the priests, we have "our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." We are not shut out of the holiest, the immediate presence of God. We are urged to "draw near with a true heart, and in full assurance of faith."
A true heart is not a heart confident in itself.
And what is a true heart? A heart that knows and believes that in itself it is utterly untrue and not to be trusted. In Luke 8:15 we read of the "honest and good heart." That is a heart which believes what God says about the heart of man: it is "deceitful above all things, and desperately sick" (Jer. 17:9). It comes to God without trying to shield itself.
Another writer describes it as a heart "that has no reserves from God, but has exposed its inmost secrets in the light of His presence" (Edward Dennett).
Both phrases in the first half of the verse describe the state we should be in.
These two things are what we may call the necessary moral qualifications which we ought to have. We may be converted. But full assurance in our minds comes from a simple faith in the work of Christ, and in the witness of the Holy Spirit that the question of our sins is fully settled. Without that assurance we cannot enjoy the presence of God. Nor can we enjoy it unless our hearts are true — that is, marked by sincerity under the influence of the truth, and without deceit.
One writer separates two things in the verse: what qualifies us to enter, and the state we must be in.
This scripture holds two things — the qualification, and the condition for "drawing near"; that is, for entering the holiest to worship... Our hearts, in the first place, must be sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. This clearly points to the power of the blood of Christ, which leaves the believer with no more conscience of sins (v. 2). By His one offering He has perfected for ever those who are sanctified (v. 14).
One ceremony lies behind both halves of the verse. At their consecration the priests were washed as well as sprinkled (Exodus 29). The washing pictures the new birth.
The "body washed with pure water" refers to what was done at the consecration of the priests (Ex. 29:4). It answers to "the washing of regeneration" (Titus 3:5): the word of God brings us out of a world in open rebellion against God, and into whole-hearted allegiance to the Son of His love. Baptism expresses this spiritual reality outwardly. But "the washing of regeneration" is not baptism. Baptism is the mere shadow, and not the substance.
Blood and water come from one source.
They had the shadow, we have the substance — THE DEATH OF CHRIST. It works in two directions. As BLOOD it cleanses us judicially and gives us a perfect standing before God. As WATER it cleanses us morally, cutting us off from the old life we once lived and bringing us into the new.
- Ground: Our boldness to enter rests on the blood of Jesus alone. Nothing we have done adds to it, so all boasting is silenced.
- Title: Two things qualify a worshipper. The blood sprinkles the heart, so there is no more conscience of sins. The washing pictures the new birth.
- State: Two things must match that title. A true heart keeps nothing back from God. Full assurance rests on Christ's work and the Spirit's witness.
- Contrast: Aaron entered under the warning "that he die not." We are urged to come in with boldness.
- Response: One death supplies both the blood that clears the conscience and the water that cuts us off from the old life. The only fitting answer is to draw near.