Leviticus 6:27
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This verse highlights a profound principle: even accidental contact with a sin offering made a garment holy, demanding it be washed within the sanctuary. This wasn't just about cleanliness, but a constant reminder that God's holiness is contagious, transforming everything it touches, and that our redemption requires being set apart in a holy place.
Whatever touches its flesh shall be holy, and when any of its blood is splashed on a garment, you shall wash that on which it was splashed in a holy place.
English Standard Version (ESV)
This passage details specific regulations for handling the sin offering, a sacrifice that represented atonement for sin. The focus is on the profound holiness transferred through contact with the sacrifice's flesh and blood, emphasizing that these elements, and anything they touch, are set apart for God. Following these instructions, the text shifts to discussing burnt offerings and a communal meal offering, outlining further sacred duties for the priests.
Everything about the sin offering was set apart, even the accidental touches! What does this tell us about God's expectations for holiness?
The text in Leviticus 6:27 emphasizes that anything touching the 'flesh' of the sin offering became holy. This wasn't just about the intentional use of the sacrifice, but also about its sacred nature extending to anything that came into contact with it.
A Higher Standard
This highlights that holiness isn't just for the ordained or the overtly devout. Even an accidental touch was to be treated with reverence, signifying that the sacrifice's purpose was so significant that its very substance demanded separation unto God. This extended even to the garments of the priests – if even a drop of blood splashed on them, they weren't just washed, but washed in the holy place. This underscores a profound principle: God's holiness demands a corresponding holiness in all that relates to Him. Nothing connected to His divine plan can remain common.
A splash of blood on a garment meant a special washing. What does this dramatic detail foreshadow about cleansing from sin?
The instruction to wash garments splattered with the sin offering's blood in the holy place is incredibly significant. It paints a vivid picture of the cleansing power and sacredness associated with atonement.
The Priestly Task
This task fell to the priests, who were God's mediators. They had to handle the remnants of the sacrifice with utmost care, ensuring that even the blood, a symbol of sin's penalty, was treated with reverence and not defiled. Washing these garments in the holy place kept the process contained within God's sacred space, showing that sin's atonement and the subsequent cleansing are divine acts.
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A Deeper Truth
Commentators rightly point out that this prefigures the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ. His blood, shed for us, is infinitely precious. While an accidental splash on a garment required careful washing in the sanctuary, Christ's blood offers a complete, once-for-all cleansing for our sins, purifying us not just outwardly but inwardly, making us fit for God's presence.
Understand the original words
dam · Hebrew Noun
The life force of a creature; in sacrificial law, the blood represents the substitutionary life given to satisfy the penalty for sin.
This passage directly states that Christ was made sin for us, echoing the idea in Leviticus that the sin offering, which this flesh and blood relates to, was a powerful picture of Christ's atoning sacrifice for sin.
1 Peter 1:18-19It speaks of being redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, 'like that of a lamb without blemish or spot,' highlighting the immense value and purifying power of sacrificial blood, just as Leviticus emphasizes keeping the blood of the sin offering holy.
Hebrews 13:11-12This passage connects Jesus' sacrifice to the Old Testament sin offerings, noting that the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp, while Jesus suffered outside the city gate, further emphasizing the continuity between these ancient rituals and Christ's suffering.
Romans 6:13Paul urges believers to present themselves to God as 'alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness,' which ties into the concept of the sin offering's holiness demanding a holy use of everything connected to it, mirroring our call to live holy lives for God.
clarkeLeviticus 6:27: "Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy: and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment, thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the holy place."
Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy - The following note of Mr. Ainsworth is not less judicious than it is pious: - "All this rite was peculiar to the sin-offering, (whether it were that which was to be eaten, or that which was to be burnt), above all the other most holy th…
gillLeviticus 6:27: "Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy: and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment, thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the holy place."
Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy,.... None but holy persons, such as were devoted to holy services, even the priests and their sons, might touch and eat of the flesh of the sin offering: all that did so were sacred persons; and even what were used in eating it, dishes an…
This verse highlights a profound principle: even accidental contact with a sin offering made a garment holy, demanding it be washed within the sanctuary. This wasn't just about cleanliness, but a constant reminder that God's holiness is contagious, transforming everything it touches, and that our redemption requires being set apart in a holy place.
This passage details specific regulations for handling the sin offering, a sacrifice that represented atonement for sin. The focus is on the profound holiness transferred through contact with the sacrifice's flesh and blood, emphasizing that these elements, and anything they touch, are set apart for God. Following these instructions, the text shifts to discussing burnt offerings and a communal meal offering, outlining further sacred duties for the priests.
This passage details specific regulations for handling the sin offering, a sacrifice that represented atonement for sin. The focus is on the profound holiness transferred through contact with the sacrifice's flesh and blood, emphasizing that these elements, and anything they touch, are set apart for God. Following these instructions, the text shifts to discussing burnt offerings and a communal meal offering, outlining further sacred duties for the priests.
"Whatever touches its flesh shall be holy, and when any of its blood is splashed on a garment, you shall wash that on which it was splashed in a holy place." — This verse highlights a profound principle: even accidental contact with a sin offering made a garment holy, demanding it be washed within the sanctuary. This wasn't just about cleanliness, but a con…
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Last reviewed October 2026
