Why did animals need to be sacrificed in the Old Testament sanctuary services?

The sacrificing of animals was necessary to help people understand that without the shedding of Jesus’ blood, their sins could never be forgiven. The ugly, shocking truth is that the punishment for sin is eternal death. Since all of us have sinned, all of us should die. When Adam and Eve sinned, they would have died at once except for Jesus, who stepped forward and offered to give His perfect life as a sacrifice to pay the death penalty for all people.

After sin, God required the sinner to bring an animal sacrifice (Genesis 4:3–7). When a sinner brought a sacrificial animal to the door of the courtyard, a priest handed him a knife and a basin. The sinner laid his hands on the animal’s head and confessed his sins. This symbolized the transfer of sin from the sinner to the animal. At that point, the sinner was considered innocent and the animal guilty. Since the animal was now symbolically guilty, it had to pay sin’s wage—death.

The sinner was to kill the animal with his own hand (Leviticus 1:4, 5). It was bloody and shocking. By slaying the animal, the sinner was graphically taught that sin caused the innocent animal’s death and that his sin would cause the death of the innocent Jesus. It indelibly impressed the sinner with the solemn reality of sin’s awful consequences (eternal death) and the desperate need of a Savior.

The sacrificial system taught, through the symbol of the slain animal, that God would give His Son to die for their sins (1 Corinthians 15:3). Jesus would become not only their Savior, but also their substitute (Hebrews 9:28). When John the Baptist met Jesus, he said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). In the Old Testament, people looked forward to the cross for salvation. We look backward to Calvary for salvation. There is no other source of salvation.

Key Bible Texts

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. (Hebrews 9:22 KJV)