Hebrews 9:15

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The New Covenant Was Validated by Christ's Death

Since it is a better sacrifice, Christ is the mediator of a new and better covenant, or will. It is through His death that the people of the old covenant will receive an actual (not ceremonial) cleansing from their sins. All of those from the past who were children of God can only receive the final promises of their covenants if Christ's blood ratifies their agreements, which it does. It is a fact that Christ had to die so that all of the promises of God's covenants with man could go into effect. No one could claim eternal life as a part of his inheritance until Christ died, since His death ratified all past and present covenant promises.

Summing up what he has already said, the writer tells his readers blood has to be shed for a testament, or covenant, to be in effect (see comment on 7:22). To prove the point, the writer related the story of the sprinkling of blood performed by Moses in the dedicating of the first covenant (Exodus 24:1-8). That sprinkling was with the blood of oxen, which could not take away sins (10:4). That is why the blood of Christ still had to be shed for the sins of those who died under the first covenant. Further, Moses had said that the blood sprinkled ratified the testament. The fact that God "commanded" them shows that this covenant was proposed by God and agreed to by the children of Israel. The importance of blood is further seen in the sprinkling of the tabernacle and all its vessels. Indeed, most acts of purification were by blood, under the law, and all atonement for sin was made with blood (Hebrews 9:15-22; Exodus 40:9-11; Leviticus 17:11).