Colossians 2:17

a shadow Cp. Hebrews 8:5; Hebrews 10:1. The word suggests the idea of "an image cast by an object and representing its form." (Grimm's N.T. Lexicon, ed. Thayer.)

things to come from the point of view of the Old Dispensation. The Epistle to the Hebrews is a large apostolic expansion, so to speak, of this sentence; giving us at full length the assurances that the Mosaic ordinances were adjusted with a Divine prescience, to the future of the Gospel; and that the fulfilment of their true import in Christ abrogates their observance. Render exactly, the things to come.

the bodyis of Christ The Fulfilment, the shadow-casting Substance, is "of Christ," is "Christ's," because it consists ofHim in His redeeming Work. His atoning Sacrifice, His Gift of the Spirit, His Rest, are the realities to which the old institutions pointed.