Death of the High Priest

But after the death of the high priest the slayer shall return into the land of his possession. 
Numbers 35:28b

In preparation for the Israelites entering the Promised Land, the LORD directs Moses in Numbers 35 to establish six cities of refuge. The city of refuge was a place where one had to flee to and remain in the event of manslaughter, that is, accidentally killing someone. Leaving this city would open them up to the risk of being killed by the avenger of blood. It’s a fascinating law with many interesting principles inside of it, including personal responsibility, vengeance, justice, mercy, and so forth.

What is of interest in Numbers 35:28b is the condition of freedom for the refugee. From the fateful day that the individual became guilty of death, he could only find life by abiding inside the city of refuge. He would never be able to leave it without the ever-present risk of death – that is, until the High Priest died. Right there is a beautiful snapshot of Jesus Christ, redemption, and our liberation!

In Hebrews 6:20, it speaks saying, ‘Jesus, made an high priest for ever’. That’s who the High Priest in the Tabernacle and Temple represented. They were types and shadows of the coming High Priest.

The ‘slayer’, or rather, refugee, is every person who has ever lived, for it is written, the wages of sin is death, and again, ALL have sinned. So then, every sinner has death coming for them, the ‘avenger of blood’ is hunting them down to take their life.

To where does the refugee run? They must leave where they were to a city wherein they are trapped if they wish to live. It’s a fortress for them, a refuge, dare we say, a prison? In Zechariah 9:11, the prophet speaks prophetically of the people of God, “By the blood of the covenant (Christ’s death on Calvary) I have sent forth the prisoners out of the dungeon.” (paraphrased, pit is also translated as dungeon). In the following verse, the people who have been liberated are urged to ‘turn to the strong hold’, that is, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, because on this day double would be restored.

In Zechariah 9, we find the prophetic fulfillment of Numbers 35:28. Christ, a High Priest for ever, would die, thereby freeing those who were sheltering in a ‘dungeon’, unable to leave for fear of deserving death. Now freed, they can find a restoration of what they had before through the power of the name of Jesus Christ, for the name of the Lord is a strong and mighty tower.

What a beautiful picture it is, that hundreds of years before Christ’s death, it’s purpose and outcome was foretold in the shadow of the High Priest’s death liberating all those fugitives trapped in the cities of refuge, fearing for their lives.

Once there was a time when humanity found themselves powerless against sin, cornered, unable to leave, trapped in a place that could not give them life. Then came our great High Priest, and with His death on Mt Calvary, He brought emancipation, redemption, and liberation!

We now live in that age of restoration. All that humanity has lost as a result of sin will one day be restored. It is being restored. If you’ve been washed in the precious blood of the Lamb, you no longer have to fear the ‘avenger of blood’. Death, where is your sting? Grave, where is your victory? Our High Priest has died, and in His death, we find life anew. Now on us is the calling to return to our possession. May we again find ourselves in that fellowship between man and God that our Creator had designed at the very start.

All the glory be to our God and Father, even the Lord Jesus Christ, our great High Priest who freed us in death, and rose again to live forevermore!