What does Hebrews 9:6 mean?
This verse moves from a description of the items used in the temple to an explanation of how these objects were used. The purpose here is to set up an important comparison. The artifacts and rituals of the old covenant were all meant to symbolize the ultimate, future, eternal covenant which God had promised. Later in this chapter, the writer of Hebrews will explain how Jesus' actions as our high priest will fulfill that symbolism.The "first section" referenced here is the Holy Place, behind the first curtain of the temple. This was a place where priests would go on a daily basis, in order to offer various sacrifices and offerings. This was a section separated from most people, but accessible to those whom God had installed as priests. The Holy Place, then, is a physical barrier to the people symbolic of their separation from God. The second curtain, however, designated the Most Holy Place, and this was an area which only the high priest could enter, and only once per year, and only bearing a sacrifice of blood. As performed under the old covenant, this symbolizes the separation of God and man, and our need to be forgiven in order to be in His presence (Hebrews 9:7–8).
Hebrews 9:1–10 explains how the rooms and artifacts of the temple were only meant as symbols. In fact, those items were specifically intended to show how the old covenant could not remove the barrier between God and man. The use of external rituals can only assuage feelings of guilt, it cannot actually remove sin or change a person's nature. The existence of the curtains, separating men from the holy places, is also symbolic of how the old covenant leaves us apart from God. This sets up a comparison, in the following passage, showing how Christ's sacrifice fulfills those symbols and achieves a perfection of our relationship with God.
Hebrews chapter 9 explains how the old covenant included various physical locations and physical rituals. These, according to the writer of Hebrews, were always intended as symbols. Their details, and the drawbacks which they suffered from, were meant to point towards the ''true'' means of our redemption, which is Christ. Unlike animal sacrifices, which must be repeated, and which cannot change man on the inside, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is a once for all, permanent, and completely effective solution to sin. The fact that Christ died for sin only once also means that His next arrival, in the future, will not be as a sacrifice, but as the final fulfillment of God's plan.
