Hebrews 13:11,12 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

For the bodies of those beasts, &c.— The connection of these words with the foregoing seems to be this: The thing to be proved, ver.10 is, that the Jewish priests have no right by the law to partake of the Christian altar. The reason of which is, because the sacrifice offered upon the Christian altar of the cross, was offered without the gates of Jerusalem; which shews that it was of the same nature with the old propitiatory sacrifices, whose bodies were ordered to be burned without the camp; of which therefore it was unlawful and impossible for the Jewish priests to partake: so that the law which forbad them to eat of propitiatory sacrifices, denied them a right to partake of the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ. From all which it is to be inferred, that they should forsake the law, and become Christians, and have their hearts established in grace, not in meats. The priests who served the tabernacle, were allowed to partake of some sacrifices which were offered within the tabernacle; (Leviticus 6:26.) but they had no right to partake of those sacrifices which were propitiatory, as appears from the order given relating to the service of the great day of propitiation, to which the apostle here undoubtedly refers;—The bullock for the sin-offering, and the goat for the sin-offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung. Leviticus 16:27. As therefore the priests had no right, according to the law, to partake of expiatory sacrifices, the law could not give them any right to partake of Christ's sacrifice, which is of the same expiatory kind figured and represented by them, as appears from his sufferingwithoutthegatesofJerusalem, in conformity to their being burnt without the camp. The apostle speaks of these things in the language of Moses, in whose days there was no temple built for the Jewish worship. He describes the people as living in a camp in the wilderness, only because he had respect to the words of Moses just quoted, which he recites almost verbatim. As, during the time of the tabernacle in the wilderness, the bodies of these sacrifices were to be burnt without the camp; so when the temple was built at Jerusalem, the bodies of those sin-offerings were burnt without the gates of Jerusalem; for which reason Jesus was to suffer, as he actually did, without the gate of the same city. Luke 23:33.