Bread from heaven. Our great day of expiation is Good Friday, on which day Jesus Christ was crucified outside the walls for the sins of the world. Even as the Jewish High Priest went into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, to carry there the blood of the sacrifice, so Christ, “being come an High Priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle (i. e. heaven), not made with hand, that is, not of this creation, neither by the blood of goats and of calves, but by His own blood, entered once into the Holies, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebr. 9, 11. 12). This means that Jesus Christ, having won for us by His death on Good Friday justification, sanctification, and salvation, entered into heaven, where He continually offers the merits of His Passion and Death to His heavenly Father. The great year of Jubilee, which began with the Day of Atonement, is a beautiful type of the Christian era, which will last till the end of times, and in which man, by the atoning Death of Jesus Christ, is freed from the slavery of sin and Satan, and is once more made heir of the kingdom of heaven. — The recurring years of Rest and Jubilee correspond with our years of jubilee, in which the Church throws open her treasuries of grace and offers to us indulgences, i. e. remission of the temporal punishment of sin, so that we may be cleansed from all guilt and made partakers of the heavenly inheritance. Thus we see that all these types find their fulfilment in the Catholic Church, and in her alone; for she alone has priest and High Priest, altar and sacrifice. It follows then that the Catholic Church alone is the true Church, founded by God, and foreshadowed in the Old Testament.
The festal assemblies and pilgrimages of the people of Israel had a very beneficial effect. They served, firstly, to preserve and increase the belief in the true God, and thus to keep the people from idolatry. Secondly, they served to foster unity and a common feeling among the people, who came to look upon themselves as all members of one body, confessors of the same faith, and heirs of the same promises.
Reward of faithfulness. The tribe of Levi was smaller than the others, but it had become less infected with idolatry; and on account of its faithfulness, God chose it for His special service.
The High Priest was the spiritual head of the people, the visible representative of God, and the mediator between God and the people. He had the privilege of entering the Holy of Holies once a year; and, later on, of anointing the kings.
The Priests had the right and the duty to offer sacrifice, to enter the Sanctuary, to keep burning the lights of the seven-branched candlestick and the sacred fire for the burnt-offerings, to bless the people and pray for them, and instruct them in the law.
The Levites were the assistants of the priest. They might not enter the Sanctuary, but had to guard the Tabernacle, and, later on.
