At the Last Supper, Jesus said that His was the blood of the covenant shed for many, for the forgiveness of sins. But what is the blood of the covenant? Today’s passage shows that it is part of a more comprehensive ceremony between God and human beings.

At the time of Moses, when a powerful king had conquered a weaker kingdom, he would often make a covenant with his new people. We find the first part of the ceremony in verses 3 and 7, where God the King states the gracious things He has done for His people and then makes clear His expectations for them. And of course the people agree to live according to the law of the King.

But there is also a covenant ratification ceremony, a blood oath taken by both parties. In this ceremony, the altar represented God and the twelve pillars represented the people. The slain animals’ blood was placed on both the altar and the pillars – this symbolized both parties taking the blood on themselves. By doing this, they were making a simple, if not subtle statement: “If I break my promise, may my blood be shed as the blood of these animals was.”

But that’s just the problem. For as soon as Moses went back up on the mountain to receive more information from God, the people broke their agreement. Exodus 32 explains how they gave up on Moses and on God, and decided to worship a gold-plated image of a calf instead. In the same way, no matter how good any of our intentions may be, none of us can keep the promises of obedience we have made to God. That means all of us deserve to have our blood shed, to pay the death penalty that the covenant requires.

But that’s why Jesus’ words at the Last Supper are so important. For He said that the blood of the covenant was His blood. Because He is the Son of God, the blood on the altar represents His promise to die if He broke His Word, so we know we can trust Him. But because He is the Son of Man, because He became one of us, the blood on the pillars is His as well. That’s why He could shed His blood on the cross, paying the penalty that our sins deserve.

Jesus has fulfilled the covenant, keeping God’s Law perfectly and dying for all us lawbreakers. Let’s live for Him today, seeking to love and serve God, not out of fear, but in gratitude to the One Who has loved us so much.

Exodus 24:3-8 (ESV)

3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.”
4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD.
6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar.
7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.”
8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”