For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness, and tempest, (19) and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore.

(22) But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, (23) to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, (24) to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

In today’s reading the author draws a contrast between the Old Covenant given by God to Moses at Mt. Sinai and the New Covenant of grace through the shed blood of the Messiah.  The emphasis is on believers possessing privilege of access to God the Father through Christ, the High Priest forever.  The law – the Old Covenant – was only a shadow of good things to come.  The Law provided no power to overcome sin: it was a revelation of God’s righteous requirements and the purpose of the law was not to provide the knowledge of salvation but to produce the knowledge of sin.  It speaks of the distance between God and man because of sin.

The letter to the Hebrews was written by an unknown author to Jewish Christians who were in danger of reverting to their Jewish faith because of isolation and persecution.  The author is emphasizing the importance of perfection which should cause any Jew to realize his/her utter hopelessness to attain perfection under the Old Covenant compared to the worth of Christ.  In Hebrews the ceremonial law could not save the believer – it was always short of completeness.  Think of the “Hebrew Christian – an outcast from the Temple with it’s ancient and magnificent rites and psalmody  with the large numbers who obeyed the law and participated in rites and rituals.  Now they are told that they are not the lonely isolated handful of Jewish Christians that they thought.  They are joined by spirits of the perfected just with numberless holy angels and holy spirits.

The writer’s point in this section is that instead of returning to Mt. Sinai and the law given to Moses – a real mountain – they are urged to continue their approach to Zion, the spiritual mountain and city – where God dwells and reigns.  The author by contrasting the two mountains contrasts the Mosaic covenant with the New Covenant and exhorts his readers not to reject Christ and His offer of salvation.  We are arrived in principle where in full reality we shall be forever.  On earth we own heaven but we must run the race toward the goal, with endurance.  The intended readers of this letter were urged not to listen to the voices of old friends still pursuing the futile attempts to live the Law given at Sinai but rather walk the straight path, eyes on Jesus, to Zion (the heavenly Jerusalem) and grace.