In His wisdom, God understood a special priesthood of believers would be necessary to help reconcile the world to Himself. Jesus and His Saints will be the priesthood for all mankind. 1 Peter 2:9, … “ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,…” The priesthood and sacrifices of the tabernacle pictured the real priesthood.

The Day of Atonement sacrifices of Leviticus 16 typified the better sacrifices of the Gospel Age.

It differed from other sin offerings in that the blood of the bullock and the Lord’s Goat were sprinkled and  taken into the Holy and Most Holy. The scapegoat was released in the wilderness to meet his death.

Verses 7-8, “and he shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation and Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats: one lot for the LORD, and the other 

lot for the scapegoat.”  The two goats represent all of the Lord’s consecrated Church at this present time. But true Christians consist of two classes. The classes do not go through the same experiences. The more-than-overcoming Christians follow precisely the experiences of the Lord – as the Lord’s goat’s experiences corresponded to those of the bullock.

The scapegoat class are Christians who fully consecrate to sacrifice themselves, but the temptations of the flesh, the world, and the devil take their life’s focus away from the Lord. They hold back, and neglect to lay down their lives sacrificially. These, therefore, experience the destruction of the flesh.

In the Hebrew, when the lot had been cast upon the goats, one was declared to be for Jehovah and the other for Azazel (perhaps referring to the devil). Apostle Paul referred to these Christians in 1 Corinthians 5:3-5, “…I have delivered over such an one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” 

The arbitrary casting of lots shows God does not predetermine which Christians will gladly sacrifice and which will not. There is no predestination. It does show that it is not sufficient to make a consecration to the Lord. We must fulfill our sacrificial covenant (Romans 12:1-2). The bullock is first sacrificed and the Lord’s goat submits to the same experience. Thus, we must obey and sacrifice our flesh to be members of the royal priesthood.

The scape-goat does not represent a sin-loving class, nor a class which has denied the Lord, but a class of consecrated believers overcharged with the cares of this life. They are not sufficiently loyal to the Lord and diligent in their covenant to forsake all and walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.

For a more in-depth study of the Tabernacle, download the free PDF of the book: "Tabernacle Shadows of the Better Sacrifices"