Unpacking Exodus 24:3-8: Covenant Sealed by Blood

The Covenant at Sinai: A Binding Agreement

This moment at Mount Sinai marks the formal ratification of God’s covenant with Israel, a sacred agreement rooted in obedience, sacrifice, and divine presence.

The people had already heard God’s laws, given in the dramatic setting of thunder, smoke, and trumpet blasts at Sinai (Exodus 19). Now, in Exodus 24, Moses reads 'the Book of the Covenant' - a summary of God’s commands - and the people respond twice with full commitment: 'All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.' This double affirmation shows their solemn resolve to hear and follow through.

Moses then enacts a powerful ritual: he builds an altar and twelve pillars representing the tribes, offers sacrifices, and uses the blood to seal the covenant - half on the altar (representing God) and half on the people. By throwing the blood on the people, he declares, 'Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you,' showing that their lives were now bound together with God in a relationship sealed by sacrifice.

Following this, the elders ascend the mountain and see God, yet are spared - 'he did not lay his hand on them' - and they eat and drink in His presence (Exodus 24:11). This astonishing moment reveals that obedience and sacrifice open the way to fellowship with God, a rare and holy privilege.

Then God calls Moses up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, and for forty days and nights, the cloud covers Sinai while Moses dwells in God’s glory (Exodus 24:12-18). This transition shows the covenant is an invitation into ongoing relationship and divine instruction, not merely rules on stone.

The Blood of the Covenant: Meaning and Ancient Context

Building on the covenant's formal ratification, we now explore the deep meaning behind the blood ritual, the 'Book of the Covenant,' and Israel’s twofold pledge - 'we will do and we will obey.'

In the ancient Near East, covenants were often sealed with blood because it symbolized life and the seriousness of the agreement - breaking it would mean death. The Hebrew word *berith* (covenant) appears in Exodus 24:8 when Moses says, 'Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you,' directly linking the blood to the binding agreement. The blood was split: half thrown on the altar (representing God’s presence) and half on the people, showing that both parties were bound together - life for life. This ritual was more than symbolic. It reflected a real-world understanding that serious promises required a costly sign, much like treaties between kings and vassals in surrounding nations such as the Hittites, where loyalty was enforced through solemn oaths and consequences.

The 'Book of the Covenant' (Exodus 24:7) refers to the laws God gave, likely including the Ten Commandments and civil instructions from Exodus 20 - 23. When Moses read it aloud and the people responded twice - 'All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient' - their repetition emphasized full commitment. This included both initial agreement ('we will do') and ongoing faithfulness ('we will obey'). The Hebrew word *shema* (to hear and obey) underlines that true listening to God always leads to action. Unlike other ancient law codes focused only on penalties and social order, Israel’s covenant was relational - God saved them first (Exodus 20:2), then gave them laws to live as His treasured people.

The use of blood here also points forward to the New Testament, where Jesus at the Last Supper says, 'This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins' (Matthew 26:28). He fulfills what Moses began - no longer sprinkling animal blood on people, but offering His own blood to seal a new covenant. This shows that while the old covenant required obedience through sacrifice, the new covenant provides obedience through grace, empowering people to follow God from the inside out.

This covenant wasn't just about rules - it was a life-and-death bond sealed with blood, pointing forward to the ultimate sacrifice that would make true obedience possible.

Later, Jeremiah 31:31-34 prophesies this new covenant: 'I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.' Unlike the old covenant, which depended on the people’s promises, the new covenant depends on God’s transforming power. This progression shows that God’s goal was heart change, not merely rule-following. This leads to the next part of our study on how the law points to Jesus.

How the Covenant Blood Points to Jesus

The blood Moses used to seal God’s covenant with Israel wasn’t the end of the story - it pointed forward to the perfect and final sacrifice Jesus would make.

Hebrews 9:11-22 explains this clearly: 'When Christ came as high priest... he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus securing eternal redemption.' The old covenant required repeated animal sacrifices, but they could never fully take away sin - only remind people of it. Jesus, however, offered Himself as the ultimate sacrifice, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood, making a once-and-for-all payment.

Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we’re no longer under the old system of rules and rituals - He fulfilled them. Christians don’t follow the Law to earn God’s favor, but respond to His grace with whole-life obedience, empowered by the Spirit.

Jesus didn’t cancel the old covenant - He fulfilled it by offering His own blood, not just on an altar, but for our hearts.

This leads us into the next question: if we’re not under the Law, how then should we live? The answer begins with understanding the heart behind the commandments.

The Blood of the Covenant: From Abraham to the Eucharist

Now that we’ve seen how Moses’ covenant points to Jesus, we can trace this thread of blood-based covenant all the way from Genesis to the Last Supper.

In Genesis 15, God made a covenant with Abraham by passing through animal pieces in a smoking firepot and flaming torch - symbolizing His solemn, unilateral promise. This ancient ritual, where only God walked through, showed that the covenant’s fulfillment depended on Him alone, not on Abraham’s obedience.

Centuries later, Jeremiah 31:31-34 prophesied a new covenant: 'Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah... I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.' Unlike the old covenant sealed with animal blood, this one would be written on hearts - transformed from the inside.

At the Last Supper, Jesus directly connected this promise to His coming sacrifice. He took the cup and said, 'This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins' (Matthew 26:28). Paul confirms this in 1 Corinthians 11:25, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.' The Eucharist is a participation in the covenant God has fulfilled for us, rather than merely a ritual.

The same blood that sealed God’s promise to Abraham now flows in the cup we share, binding us not by law, but by grace.

So the blood that once sealed promises on stone and altar now seals our hearts through faith. This means our relationship with God isn’t based on our ability to keep promises, but on His faithfulness to keep His. And that leads us into how we live out this grace in everyday obedience, not out of duty, but out of love.

Application