The Power of Jesus’ Blood Cleanses All Our Sins

When God gave the ordinances in the Old Testament, He spoke to Moses regarding “the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing” (Lev. 14:2). The Levitical instructions for the cleansing of leprosy provide a wealth of insight into the power of Christ’s blood.

In Scripture, leprosy refers to a variety of skin diseases. It is also a symbol of sin. So, the cleansing of the leper foreshadowed God’s future plan to cleanse all of mankind from sin.

First, the leper to be cleansed was “brought to the priest” (Lev. 14:2).

The priest was instructed to go outside the city and “take for him who is to be cleansed two living and clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop” (Lev. 14:4).

Each of these elements reminds me of the work of Christ for the remission of sin. The priests going outside the camp point to Jesus being crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem. I believe the two birds foreshadow the Lord’s death and resurrection—cedar wood points to the cross and scarlet to His suffering.

Finally, hyssop symbolizes faith. David said:

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. —Psalm 51:7

Hyssop symbolizes faith to me because it was used in the application of the blood (Exodus 12:22).

When the first bird was killed, the blood was caught in an earthen vessel with water in it. This speaks of Christ’s shedding His blood in an earthen vessel—His human body.

Then the priest took the living bird along with the cedar wood (Christ’s cross), the scarlet (His suffering), and the hyssop (faith) and dipped them in the shed blood of the bird that was slain.

The slain bird’s blood was mixed with the water in the earthen vessel, symbolizing cleansing by the Word (Eph. 5:26).

Here was the final instruction:

Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the defiling disease, and then pronounce them clean. After that, he is to release the live bird in the open fields. —Leviticus 14:7, NIV

This speaks of our sins being cleansed by the blood. Then we see the resurrection in the living bird that was released.

This cleansing ceremony is just one example of how the Old Covenant foreshadows the New Covenant. Paul told the Colossians that no one should judge them according to the Old Covenant traditions about eating, drinking, and festivals because the Law was a “shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” (Col. 2:16–17). Hebrews also says that the Law had a “shadow of the good things to come” but not “the very image” (Heb. 10:1).

How have you seen God cleanse and renew you in your own life?