“Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12).
Hebrews 9:12 builds upon the previous verse is saying that Jesus offers eternal redemption, once for all, by his own blood. Because of this, we can say that Jesus’ sacrificial offering is efficacious for everyone, everywhere.
To illustrate this gracious act of redemption, consider the contrast that our author draws in this passage. For instance, the Levitical high priest was compelled to offer a sacrifice in order to enter the Most Holy Place under the Old Covenant Law. Jesus offered a sacrifice as well, but it wasn’t a sacrificial animal he brought. Instead, this passage tells us that Jesus “…did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood.”
Furthermore, the Old Covenant allowed for the sacrificial death of an unblemished animal as a substitutionary offering. This foreshadowed Jesus’ own sacrificial death on our behalf. The following commentary sheds additional light on the sacrificial offerings associated with the annual Day of Atonement and allows us to contemplate how they prefigured Jesus’ atoning work…
“the author of Hebrews relies on the OT for the religious metaphors used to illustrate Jesus’ sacrificial death. Three sacrifices were associated with the offering on the Day of Atonement: a bull and two goats. The priest offered the bull on behalf of himself and his family (Lev 16:6, 11). One goat was presented alive as the scapegoat. The Israelites would then release the scapegoat into the wilderness in order to take away sins from Israel (Lev 16:10). The second goat would be slaughtered for a sin offering (Lev 16:15).” (1)
Finally, three additional commentators explain this somewhat perplexing reference to “his own blood” within this passage…
“Did Jesus take his blood into heaven and show it to God? No, Jesus’ blood was displayed on the cross. On the basis of that display, God opened heaven to him, making his ascension possible.” (2)
“The ‘with’ is more accurately rendered ‘through.’ It is not as though He took a bowl of blood. Rather, His shed blood was the channel of access” (3)
“This is the great distinction between Christ as High Priest and all other high priests. They offer blood (verse 7), but he offered his own blood.” (4)
(1) John D. Barry, Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Heb 9:12.
(2) Sproul, R. C. (1994). Before the face of God: Book 4: A daily guide for living from Ephesians, Hebrews, and James (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House; Ligonier Ministries.
(3) Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne House, Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, 1999), 1649
(4) A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, 5:399, quoted in Constable, Thomas. DD., Notes on Hebrews 2022 Edition, [9:12]