Festivals & practices
Day of Atonement
Israel’s annual day of solemn cleansing and atonement for the sanctuary, priests, and people.
Also called · Yom Kippur
What it means
Leviticus 16 and 23 assign this day to the tenth day of the seventh month in the biblical calendar. The people stop working and deny themselves. The priest makes atonement for the sanctuary and altar, himself and his household, and the people.
Aaron takes the blood of a bull and a goat behind the veil. Of the two goats, one is offered for sin. The other remains alive; the people’s sins are confessed over its head before it is sent into the wilderness. These rites are repeated annually.
How it appears in the Bible
Hebrews 9 compares the high priest’s annual rites with Jesus’ work. It says that Jesus entered once for all with his own blood, rather than the blood of goats or calves, and obtained eternal redemption.