The High Priest as a Type of Christ

Another type of Christ is the Hebrew high priest of God, which was originally Aaron the brother of Moses, who was eventually succeeded by his third son Eleazer, and many others down through the centuries. In my previous article on The Typology of the Tabernacle, I explained that the high priest was the only person in the world allowed to enter the Most Holy Place, and that he was only allowed to do so once per year on the Hebrew Day of Atonement.

The apostle of Christ writing to the Hebrews during the first century explicitly taught that the high priest was a type of Christ. He said, "Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession." (Heb 3:1).

The apostle further explained the many wonderful ways in which the high priest is a type of Christ and it's rich meaning to us. Let's look at those together.

Made Like His Brethren in All Things
A high priest was a man who represented the people to God and made atonement on their behalf. "Therefore, He [Jesus] had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people." (Heb 2:17)

The Lord Jesus suffered temptations, three of which occurred during his forty days of fasting in the wilderness. These all worked for our benefit, because they enabled Him to be our perfect high priest, who is able to help us when we are tempted. "Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted." (Heb 2:18, NIV)

Tempted in Every Way Just as We Are

Not only did Jesus Christ suffer temptation, but he was tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. "Therefore, since we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin." (Heb 4:14-15)

The benefit of this to us is wonderful and gives us great confidence. "Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb 4:16)

High Priest Forever

The earthly high priest entered the Holy of Holies behind the veil once each year on the Day of Atonement to sprinkle the blood of sacrificial animals and offer incense. He was forbidden to enter at any other time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, or he would die (Lev 16:2). For the Lord would appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.

He had to wear bells of pure gold on the hem of his robe (Ex 28:33; 39:25-26). As long as the other priests outside that room could hear the bells, they knew he was still alive and that he had been accepted by God, but if he dropped dead in the holy presence of God, they would not be able to enter in to retrieve his corpse. Therefore, it is believed by scholars that the high priest had a rope tied around his ankle, which enabled them to drag him out. There is nothing in Scripture that states he had such a rope tied to him, but that doesn't mean he didn't have one. Apparently the Jewish oral tradition preserved in the Talmud indicates the high priest had a rope around his waist, so the belief among Bible scholars that he had a rope around his ankle probably comes from Jewish literature. The fact that the high priest could perish like that during his service, and would eventually die someday, was a major weakness of all the earthly high priests that served at the altar.

However, Jesus entered the Most Holy Place in heaven itself behind the veil, but since He lives forever, He is a much better high priest, far superior to all others. Those who are in Christ are connected to Him, but we will never need to drag Him out by a rope, because He lives forever and can never die again. Unlike like those earthly high priests, Christ is like an anchor of our souls beyond the veil, steadfast and secure, never failing to hold onto us as long as we stay connected to Him. This gives us great hope.

"This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." (Heb 6:19-20)

I'm reminded of the words of that song called "Anchor Beyond the Veil" by Bob Kauflin, which goes:

"And Jesus You've gone

Before us

And Your faithfulness

Never fails

In the darkness

You reassure us,

You're our anchor

Beyond the veil"

And as the old hymn called "On Christ the Solid Rock" goes, "In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil."

Sacrificed Once for All

There are many more differences that set Jesus apart from all other high priests. "For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself." (Heb 7:26-27; cf., Heb 5:1-3)

All the earthly high priests were human and beset with weakness like all men, so they were obligated to first offer sacrifices for their own sins and then for the sins of the people they represented before God. However, our great High Priest Jesus Christ is holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and highly exalted above the heavens, so He doesn't need to do that. He sacrificed His life once for all, and He never needs to do so again.

Ordained by God as High Priest

Just as no earthly high priest would be allowed to assume that role unless he were anointed and ordained to serve as high priest in his father's place (Lev 16:32), so also Jesus didn't glorify Himself, but the Father designated Him as high priest forever. The apostle says, "And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, 'You are My Son, today I have begotten You'; just as He says also in another passage, 'You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.'" (Heb 5:4-6). Therefore, Christ was anointed and ordained to serve as High Priest in His Father's place, according to Scripture.

The Source of Eternal Salvation

Although every other high priest relied on God for salvation, Jesus actually became the source of salvation for all who obey Him. "Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek." (Heb 5:8-10)

He Entered the Perfect Tabernacle by His Own Blood
Rather than repeatedly entering an earthly tabernacle by the blood of animals, Jesus entered the holy place of the perfect, heavenly tabernacle once for all, by His own blood. There He sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven. And while the blood of goats and bulls did provide the people with an outward cleansing of the flesh, the blood of Jesus provides a deeper cleansing of our consciences. Although the earthly high priests had to enter the holy place annually, Jesus entered the holy place once for all and obtained eternal redemption for us.

"We do have such a High Priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being." (Heb 8:1b, NIV)

"But when Christ appeared as a High Priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Heb 9:11-14)

"For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence." (Heb 9:24)

He Provided Purification for Sins
As our great High Priest, Christ the Son of God provided purification for sins, and then took His seat at God's right hand in heaven. The apostle wrote: "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven." (He 1:3, NIV). The very One who is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His nature, through Himself made a cleansing of our sins. In other words, by Himself He purged our sins, so that we might receive forgiveness. What an amazing gift that God would do that for us!

The Breastplate was a Type
Even the high priest's breastplate that he wore during his service in the Most Holy Place is a type. It was inlaid with twelve precious stones that each had written upon it the name of one of Israel's twelve tribes. In this way, as the high priest ministered in the sanctuary representing all the people of God, he was making intercession for them before God and providing atonement for them. Likewise, Christ intercedes in the heavenly sanctuary before the Father for all those who are in Him and He has made atonement for us once for all.

"But because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them." (Heb 7:24-25, NIV)

Closing Words
As we have learned in this study, the high priest was a type of Christ, and as we examined each aspect of the high priest we came to better understand how much better a high priest Christ really is. In fact, He was designated by God to be our perfect high priest forever, who is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He ever lives to make intercession for us. He was made like His brethren in all things, tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin, so He is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. He is holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He sacrificed Himself for us once for all on the cross, and became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him. He entered the holy place of the perfect tabernacle in heaven once for all, by His own blood. What an awesome high priest we have! "Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb 4:16)

These truths strengthen our faith in Christ, and I trust your faith has been strengthened through this study. I hope you will come back again later to enjoy more edifying articles on the types of Christ in the Bible

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Image of second temple may be subject to copyright, used per Fair Use Act for educational and commentary purposes.

Author's note:  Also see The Typology of the Tabernacle, The Temple as a Type of Christ, The Passover Lamb as a Type of Christ, Moses as a Type of Christ, Adam as a Type of Christ, Noah's Ark a Type of Christ, and Hagar and Sarah as Types. You can access the Main Directory for Biblical Typology, or my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master. Now I'd like to ask a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.