New Covenant Priesthood

Christ Is Better Than Aaron and the Levitical Priesthood (4:14-10:18) 

A New Covenant Priest with a Superior Ministry (1-7)

The author here came to the point of his conclusion: because of the change in priesthood, other changes would come in tabernacle, offering, ministry, promises, and covenant. The priest, offering, ministry, promises, covenant, and even tabernacle would all superced all supersede the Old Covenant model because they were all heavenly, true, and genuine; all that had come before was merely a copy or pattern of the real. The present Priest Jesus was a Priest-King who sat on the throne at the right hand of God and was superior to all before (1-7).

A New Covenant Priest with a Superior Covenant (8-13)

The New Covenant is contrasted with the Old Covenant. It was basically a covenant that did not get the job done; it was inadequate. The Israelites could not keep it, and the covenant made no provision for God to show any concern toward them when they disobeyed, except for ritual sacrifices that pointed to the eternal sacrifice to come: Jesus (8-9).

This New Covenant was not external but internal; it was something God put in the mind and etched upon their hearts. From that moment on, those who entered this New Covenant possessed an intense sense of belonging (10), not having a relationship through another person or leader, but each having a personal relationship with God (11). He made it clear that through the New Covenant, they would not only experience mercy but also complete forgiveness and the “forgetting” of sins (12). His logic was certain: because the new was present, the old was archaic and awaiting extinction (13).