Hebrews 9:18
“Therefore even the first covenant has not been dedicated without blood.”
What does Hebrews 9:18 mean?
The writer is explaining that when God made his first covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai, it was sealed with blood, just like Jesus's new covenant would be. In the ancient world, blood was how you made an agreement binding and serious, so this wasn't strange to the original readers, though it sounds stark to us now. The point is that both old and new covenants required sacrifice to establish them because that's what makes a promise real and costly. Understanding this helps us see why the author keeps returning to Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice, the blood that seals everything God promises us.