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Leviticus 1:5 . Why Is There Such Emphasis on Blood?

Of all the elements of the ordinance of sacrifice, nothing played a more prominent part than the administration of the blood of the offering. The manner of its offering was minutely specified by the Lord. Depending on the offering, the blood was dabbed upon the horns of the altar, sprinkled or splashed upon all four sides of the altar, or dumped out at the base of the altar.

The Lord chose blood to dramatize the consequences of sin and what was involved in the process of forgiveness and reconciliation. Therefore, blood symbolized both life (see Leviticus 17:11 ) and the giving of one’s life. Death is the consequence of sin and so the animal was slain to show what happens when man sins. Also, the animal was a type of Christ. Through the giving of His life for man, by the shedding of His blood, one who is spiritually dead because of sin can find new life. Out of this truth grows a spiritual parallel: “As in Adam, or by nature, all men fall and are subject to spiritual death, so in Christ and his atoning sacrifice all men have power to gain eternal life” (McConkie, The Promised Messiah, p. 259).

The purpose of the shedding of blood was to bring expiation, or atonement (see Leviticus 17:11 ; Hebrews 9:22 ). As noted in Reading 14-5 , the Hebrew verb which is translated by the English word atonement means “to cover.” Thus, the smearing, splashing, or daubing of blood “covered” sins and thus brought about atonement. There is a beautiful paradox in the idea that the righteous are those “whose garments are white through the blood of the Lamb” ( Ether 13:10 ; see Alma 5:21 ). It is the blood of Christ that covers sins and makes us pure so that we can receive at-one-ment with God.

Thus, the blood was a symbol for the whole process by which we become reconciled with God. “From all of this it is apparent that those in Israel who were spiritually enlightened knew and understood that their sacrificial ordinances were in similitude of the coming death of Him whose name they used to worship the Father, and that it was not the blood on their altars that brought remission of sins, but the blood that would be shed in Gethsemane and on Calvary” (McConkie, The Promised Messiah, p. 258).