Leviticus 1:3-4

"If his oblation be a burnt offering, he shall offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it at the door of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before Jehovah. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the burnt-offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him."

"Burnt offering ..." In some ways, this was the most important of all the sacrifices. First it could be offered by men of any race or nation,[10] being distinguished in this from all other Jewish sacrifices. Also, it was an essential element in the extremely important ritual of the Day of Atonement, which is indeed suggested by the terminology here. Thus, right here at the threshold of God's instructions to Israel was a witness to the worldwide purpose of his divine grace that included all nations. The great difference in the burnt-offering was that it was wholly consumed by fire, except the skin which was a prerequisite of the priests. Other sacrifices were, in part, eaten by the priests. The Hebrew word for burnt-offering is [~`olah]; it is related to the word "holocaust." A very high degree of sanctity[11] pertained to the burnt-offering.

"A male without blemish ..." This is not for the purpose of indicating any superiority of the male over the female, but was due to the typical intent of conforming to the fact that the world's Redeemer would be a MALE without blemish.

"Offer it at the door of the tent of meeting ..." This symbolized the intention of the worshipper in presenting himself as submissive to the Law of God. Paul's reference in Romans 12:1 reflects the intention here.

"He shall lay his hand upon the head of the burnt-offering ..." Despite "hand" being used in the singular, "The Talmud inferred from Leviticus 16:21, that both the worshipper's hands should be imposed upon the sacrifice."[12] Adam Clarke listed the implications of this as follows:

(1) the worshipper acknowledged the sacrifice as his own;

(2) he offered it as an atonement for his sins;

(3) he thus admitted his own worthiness of death due to sin;

(4) he entreated God to accept the life of the sacrifice as a substitution for his own life.[13]

"It shall be accepted for him to make an atonement for him ..." Four synonyms for atonement are propitiation, expiation, reconciliation, and satisfaction. Of all these, propitiation is to be preferred, because, "This word conveys the idea both of the pacification of wrath, and of the covering of transgression."[14] The first of these meanings is absent from the other synonyms. A fuller discussion of the atonement will be given in Leviticus 16. It would be erroneous here to understand "atonement" in any absolute sense. The actual atonement for mankind would never be achieved until the Son of God suffered on the Cross. Therefore, Meyrick was correct in the view that, "It is not the sin of the sinner, but the sinner himself who is covered in the type of atonement visible here."[15] Only Jesus Christ our Lord took away the sin of the world. Of course, these sacrifices were a type of the ultimate atonement which appeared in the death of Christ.