What does Hebrews 9:24 mean?

This verse summarizes a key point made in chapter 9. The earthly temple built by Moses was a physical place, filled with physical objects, and used as a center for physical rituals. These rituals were necessary, and important, but could not completely save mankind from their sins. Rather, these were always intended by God as a copy of the new covenant: a shadow of the "real" method God intended to use for our redemption.

The holy places referenced here are those of the temple which God instructed Moses to build. These represented a barrier between God and men, since only certain people could enter (Hebrews 9:6–8). The sacrifices offered there represented the weakness of animal sacrifice, since they could only temporarily and partially atone for sin. Anything made with hands, or accomplished by human hands, is inherently temporary and limited.

Christ, in contrast, serves as our high priest in the "real" holy places, in heaven, rather than here on earth. As the next verses will explain, this perfect sacrifice not only occurs in a better place, it has a greater power. Jesus only had to die once, for all sin, rather than follow the limited, repeated nature of animal sacrifices.