What does Hebrews 10:12 mean?
A major point of this passage has been that animal sacrifices could never permanently take away human sin (Hebrews 9:9–10). If they could, then there would be no point in offering them over and over (Hebrews 10:1–2). These temporary measures were only meant to foreshadow our need for Christ. Here, the writer once again makes the point that Christ's sacrifice was a single, perfect, permanent action.Verses 12 and 13 repeat images applied to Christ in earlier verses. Christ was previously described as "seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven" (Hebrews 8:1). This phrase symbolizes two important aspects of Christ and His ministry. First is the idea of Christ "sitting down," implying that His work is finished. The prior verse specifically referred to the old covenant priests as "standing," a contrast which shows their work was never done. The second image is that of Christ's position at the right hand of God. Symbolically, this was the seat of ultimate honor and power.
The following verse will, again, repeat a claim about the Messiah which was made in the Old Testament.