The High Priest of Good Things to Come

                The whole purpose of the Law of Moses was to prepare the minds of the people to live the higher law established by Christ.  Amulek taught that “every whit [of the law pointed] to that great and last sacrifice and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God” (Alma 34: 14).   The atonement itself is applied to us by having a “broken heart and a contrite spirit” (3 Nephi 9: 20).  There was to be a stop to the shedding of blood, for as Paul mentions, “it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Hebrews 10: 4).  Christ was to be the last sacrifice and fulfilled the law by making an infinite and eternal sacrifice.  Christ’s atonement allows us to be forgiven of our sins and a chance to really think for ourselves, having the laws written in our hearts (see Hebrews 10: 16).

                Under the Law of Moses, a sacrifice was made once a year on Yon Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  On this day, the High Priest would enter into the Holy of Holies in the inner most part of the tabernacle and sprinkle the blood of a male lamb without blemish before the mercy seat.  This is symbolic of Christ, who is called the “High Priest of Good Things to Come” offering himself as a sacrifice to allow mercy to be applied to all of us.  He stands in the presence of God (the Holy of Holies) and pleads to the Father on our behalf.  He took upon himself the sins of the world, much like how the “scapegoat” was symbolically given our sins and sent to his death.

                Christ truly is the High Priest of Good Things to come because he provided us a means to have hope.  Without Christ, nothing we do would matter and we would have no hope at all.  Every “good thing” that happens in our life can some way be traced back to the sacrifice Christ made as the great High Priest of the New Covenant.  Salvation only comes through the New Covenant established by Christ.