The Journey to the Sacrifice

Traveling west by wagon train in the mid-1800s was a brutal journey. Most people walked 15–20 miles a day beside the wagons through heat, dust, scarce food, and little water. Nights were spent near creeks if possible so animals could drink and families could wash off the day’s dirt before collapsing to sleep, only to rise and prepare again for the next day. After enduring the harsh prairie conditions, travelers still had to face the freezing storms and disease of the mountains. Yet they endured it all in hope of reaching a better place and claiming a new home.

In a similar way, the Israelites traveled to Jerusalem each year for the festivals and sacrifices, using the journey to prepare their hearts before God. As they traveled, they sang the “Songs of Ascents” recorded in the Psalms, remembering God’s deliverance and seeking His help. When they arrived, they brought their offerings as instructed in Leviticus 1:1-4. The worshipper laid his hand on the animal, identifying with it, and then killed the sacrifice, symbolically transferring his own sin to the sacrifice. But the priest alone took the blood of the sacrifice and applied it to the altar, symbolically covering the sin of the worshiper.

These sacrifices pointed forward to Jesus Christ, the true sacrifice and High Priest. As explained in Hebrews, Christ entered the holy place not with the blood of animals but with His own blood, securing eternal redemption. Because of His sacrifice, the veil that once separated people from God was torn, and believers can now come boldly before God, cleansed and forgiven through Him.