Hebrews 10:11 Commentary and Bible Study

The priests of the law went through their rituals on a daily basis. Some knew that what they were doing was not actually removing sin, but others performed their duties blindly, not thinking deeply about why the law required these things. Those of them who were spiritually enlightened knew that what they were doing was ineffectual for all the reasons already given in this epistle, but they continued to obey God and carry out the task he had given them. Did this seem to them to be a pointless activity? No, because they realised the teaching value of these symbolic rites and ceremonies, but they nevertheless longed for the time when all this would cease, and Messiah would do what they were unable to do. They felt their own powerlessness.The Aaronic priests stood to carry out their work and Hebrews draws attention to this posture in order to contrast it with the posture of Christ. They stood because their work was not completed. They never reached the point when they could say, ‘My work is now finished. I can now sit down to rest.’ While they were about their duties in the tabernacle or the temple, they continued to stand, and there was no seat provided for them among the pieces of furniture which Moses was commanded to make. That was true because of the nature of their sacrifices. Ostensibly, those sacrifices were designed to make atonement for sin and to remove its guilt from the worshippers, but they never actually achieved this. Because they were ineffectual, they brought about no change in the status of the worshippers. The need for cleansing from sin was just as great the next day, and so the same offerings and sacrifices came into play all over again. There was no prospect of this endless cycle of offerings ever finishing, and so the officiating priests carried on without sitting.