The theme of the epistle has been the contrast of the old and the new covenants, and this contrast is now summed up in a splendid closing passage. The first covenant was established on a mount that might be touched an earthly, material mountain [E. C. Selwyn, in JThS, xii. 134, suggests pephepsalmenô, calcined. A. J. G.] which was encircled with terrible manifestations of fire and darkness and storm. The voice in which the Law was proclaimed struck terror into the people, and even Moses was so filled with awe at the nearness of the unapproachable God that he trembled (Hebrews 12:18-21). But in receiving the new covenant we have the vision before us of the heavenly Zion. the holy city above, of which Jerusalem with its Temple is nothing but the symbol. Drawing near to this holy city we are brought into fellowship with its inhabitants, who are myriad hosts of angels, and the whole company of the saints of former ages whose names were in the book of life. We enter into fellowship with God the universal Judge, and with His chosen servants, now released from their earthly bondage and fitted for their true life in His presence. More than all, in receiving the new covenant we are brought into fellowship with Jesus, who confirmed the covenant with His blood, which does not call to God for vengeance, like that of Abel, but for love and mercy.
Hebrews 12:22. Zion: the hill on which the Temple stood gave its name to the holy city. Christian thought took over, at least in a figurative sense, the Jewish belief that the earthly Jerusalem had its ideal counterpart in heaven (cf. Galatians 4:26; Revelation 21:2).
Hebrews 12:28. the first-born: this may possibly mean the angels, regarded as the elder brothers of men. But the following words, who are written in heaven, seem rather to point to those heroes of the past who are commemorated in ch. 11. They cannot be finally admitted into God's fellowship without us (Hebrews 11:40), but their names are written already in the roll of the citizens of heaven.
Hebrews 12:25-29. The grandeur of the new covenant, as compared with the old, entails far higher obligations on those who belong to it. In the ancient time God spoke to men from the earthly mountain; now He speaks from His true dwelling-place in heaven (Hebrews 12:25). A day has been foretold (Haggai 2:6) when He will shake the whole universe as He shook the earth on the day of Sinai; and the words of the prophecy, yet once more, imply that this will be the final shaking. For the last time, on this day of Christ's appearance which is now at hand, God will shake and test His world, so that all perishable things will fall to pieces, and only what is true and eternal will remain (Hebrews 12:26 f.). We are the heirs of that eternal order which will survive the shaking, and this thought should inspire us with a solemn sense of responsibility. Let us seek God's help, so that we may serve Him as He desires; for He is the absolutely Holy One, withering as with fire all who are disobedient to His will.