4. in which were the gold altar of incense and the ark of the covenant entirely covered with gold. In it were the gold jar containing the manna, the staff of Aaron that had sprouted, and the tablets of the covenant.
5. Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the place of expiation. Now is not the time to speak of these in detail.
6. With these arrangements for worship, the priests, in performing their service, go into the outer tabernacle repeatedly,
7. but the high priest alone goes into the inner one once a year, not without blood that he offers for himself and for the sins of the people.
8. In this way the holy Spirit shows that the way into the sanctuary had not yet been revealed while the outer tabernacle still had its place.
9. This is a symbol of the present time, in which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the worshiper in conscience
10. but only in matters of food and drink and various ritual washings: regulations concerning the flesh, imposed until the time of the new order.
11. But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come to be, passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation,
12. he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.
13. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer’s ashes can sanctify those who are defiled so that their flesh is cleansed,
14. how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.
15. For this reason he is mediator of a new covenant: since a death has taken place for deliverance from transgressions under the first covenant, those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.
16. Now where there is a will, the death of the testator must be established.
17. For a will takes effect only at death; it has no force while the testator is alive.
18. Thus not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood.
19. When every commandment had been proclaimed by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves [and goats], together with water and crimson wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,
20. saying, “This is ‘the blood of the covenant which God has enjoined upon you.’”