Hebrews 10:19-25

19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,

20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,

21 and having a High Priest over the house of God,

22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,

25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

therefore (v.19) — on the basis of Christ’s priesthood

which (v.20) — refers back to “enter” in verse 19

consecrated (v.20) — in the sense of inaugurating or dedicating

veil (v.20) — Christ became incarnate that He might go to the Cross for us. The body prepared for Him was assumed by Him that He might thereby offer His sacrifice for our sins. That is the significance of the rending of the veil, “His flesh.” When that took place the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. The veil is not removed. The wrong idea that it has been removed arises from confusing this veil with that mentioned in 2 Corinthians 3:13, the veil on Moses’ face, a veil removed indeed for believers, for there is no veil over the face of Christ. This passage in Hebrews teaches that we go through the veil because it has been rent for us at the Cross. — Vine, page 304.

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When the Messiah died on the Cross, the veil of the temple was rent by the unseen hand of God, showing Israel two things, that the Messiah had now provided the actual entrance for the sinner into the presence of God, and that the symbolic sacrifices were to be discontinued, for the Reality to whom they pointed had come (Hebrews 9:7-10). — Wuest, page 179-180.

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When a Gentile like the Philippian jailer is dealt with about his soul, the approach is “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). When a Jew is appealed to, the approach is in terms of the First Testament typology as we have it in these two verses. The exhortation to enter into the Holy of Holies of heaven by the blood of Jesus would bring to the Jewish reader’s mind the picture of the high priest in Israel on the Day of Atonement entering the tabernacle for him. He stood in the Holy of Holies, not actually, but in the person of the high priest. The high priest’s presence in the Holy of Holies meant his presence there too, for the high priest had offered sacrifice first for his own sins and was thus accepted with God, and then for the people’s sins. The individual Israelite who trusted Jehovah for his salvation, that Jehovah who would some day offer a sacrifice which would pay for his sins, thus stood symbolically in his high priest for salvation, but actually in the coming Messiah who would some day be the real High Priest.

The writer makes it plain that he does not have reference to the earthly Holy of Holies. In the first place, it is by means of the blood of Jehoshua, his Jehovah-Savior that he is to enter, not by means of the blood of animals. In the second place, he calls the road into the Holy of Holies, “a new and living way.” — Wuest, page 178.

High Priest (v.21) = Great Priest

true (v.22) = genuine

The figures of sprinkling and washing (v.22) are taken from the circumstances of the consecration of the Levitical priests (Exodus 29:4, 20-21; Leviticus 8:6, 23). The sprinkling speaks of the believer’s appropriation by faith of the blood of Christ (see 9:13 and 12:24). The washing is the washing of regeneration (Titus 3:5). It is not a constant washing of the natural body (that idea misses the point of Exodus 29:4). The washing took place when we were born again. The difference seems to be that the inward and outward purification are accomplished in both cases once for all and for the whole man. There is no constant sprinkling or washing. — Vine, page 304.

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The better priesthood of Christ, after the order of Melchisedec, provides the ceremonial cleansing which had been prophesied some six hundred years earlier: Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols (Ezekiel 36:25). — McLean, page 143.

washed (v.22) — to emphasize the thoroughness of the cleansing

confession (v.23) = profession, agreement

without wavering (v.23) = not bending, not leaning backwards

consider (v.24) — ongoing action, practice

forsaking (v.25) = leave behind, abandon, desert

assembling (v.25) — from the word for “synagogue”

exhorting (v.25) = urge, pursue a course of conduct

day (v.25) — the Lord’s second coming at the end of the Tribulation

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