And the sons of Aaron presented the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar and poured out the blood at the base of the altar.
After his consecration, Aaron steps up to the altar and serves as priest for the first time. His first act is to offer a sin offering for himself. Every movement of the blood that follows carries meaning.
Sin Dealt With First
In the opening chapters of Leviticus the burnt offering comes first. Here the sin offering leads. One writer explains why that change matters.
F. B. HoleHe had to offer first for himself and then for the people. Notice that in both verses 2 and 3 the sin offering comes before the burnt offering. At the beginning of the Book the burnt offering came first, and the sin and trespass offerings came last. That pictures Christ and His sacrifice as God views them. But here the picture is of how this applies to us, and until our sins are settled we can present nothing at all to God. So the sin offering must come first, and the others follow.
The Priest Who Needed A Sacrifice
Aaron offers for himself, yet he does not stand alone at the altar. He represents the people, and both sides are true at once.
L. M. GrantIt was mainly for Aaron. But he represented the people, so we see them linked together (v. 9)… In one sense the people are linked with Aaron. In another sense they were distinct from him. Both sides have to be kept in view, just as in one sense believers are linked with Christ, and in another sense are completely distinct from Him.
One detail is easy to miss: unlike the earlier ceremony in chapter 8, nobody lays hands on this animal's head. A commentator draws out the double witness in what happens to the body.
William KellyHere, unlike Lev. 8:14, nothing is said about laying their hands on its head. Yet it bears the same witness to Christ's sacrifice: the inward parts accepted as holy and precious on the altar, but the body burned to ashes outside as identified with sin. His work explains this seeming inconsistency, and it shines as a bright witness that though He knew no sin, God made Him sin for us.
Blood On The Horns
The horns are the four raised points at the corners of the altar. Aaron dips his finger and marks them, and both actions speak of God's claims.
George DavisonJust as that finger inscribed the commandments, so now, when someone has offended against those commandments, the blood-sprinkled finger is the answer to the claims of God. The horns speak of the strength of that altar, the strength of the claims of God. The blood put on the horns assures us that God's claims have been fully met. His righteousness has been fully upheld, in such a way that God can pronounce this forgiveness in holiness and righteousness.
That same strength once stood against the guilty. Now it stands for them.
Edward DennettThe horn is a symbol of strength. So when the blood was sprinkled on the horns, the whole strength of the altar — shown in all its completeness — had been against the sinner, and now works for him. The horns of the altar became a place of refuge, a shelter no one could break into, for all who had a right to their protection on the ground of the sprinkled blood.
Blood Poured Out At The Base
Most of the blood goes nowhere visible. It is emptied on the ground at the foot of the altar — beneath the fire that never went out.
ForeshadowsThe fire always burns on the altar, expressing the consuming judgment of God. The blood is poured out below that fire. This suggests the blessed truth that our Lord Jesus Christ laid down His life — His blood — under the judgment of God. His death was not simply the giving up of life. It was tied to the righteous wrath of God against sin, as He submitted Himself to it.
Why The Blood Stayed Outside
On this day the blood never goes past the curtain. One writer marks how far that stands apart from other sin offerings.
William KellyIn Aaron's first service after his consecration, as our chapter records, there is this remarkable difference: the blood of the sin offerings, whether for the priest or for the people, was put not inside the veil, but on the horns of the bronze altar, and poured out at its base… So on this occasion there was a striking difference. It differed from the rules for the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16, and also from what Leviticus 4 required for sin, whether for the anointed priest (the high priest) or for the whole assembly.
Summary
- Order. Sin comes first. Until our sins are settled, we can bring nothing to God.
- Substitute. The inner parts burn on the altar, the body burns outside. Together they witness that the One who knew no sin was made sin for us.
- Strength. Blood on the horns says God's claims are fully met, so God can forgive in holiness and righteousness.
- Shelter. The strength once set against the sinner now shields him — the horns become a refuge for all who rest on the blood.
- Depth. Aaron pours the rest at the base, under the altar fire — a life laid down under God's wrath against sin.