What is the new covenant?
It is the covenant God promised through Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-34) and that Jesus inaugurated with his blood. Its features are a transformed heart, personal knowledge of God and complete forgiveness of sins.
Hebrews · chapter 8 of 13
Hebrews 8: Summary, Key Verses and Study Questions
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What happens in Hebrews 8?
Hebrews 8 states that Jesus is the high priest seated at God's right hand who serves in the true tabernacle in heaven, of which the earthly one was a copy and shadow. He is mediator of a better covenant, founded on better promises, and the author quotes in full Jeremiah's prophecy of the new covenant, which writes the law on the heart and forgives sins.
After showing in chapter 7 that Jesus is a superior priest, Hebrews 8 takes a decisive step: this priest does not serve in a sanctuary made by human hands but in the heavenly one, and he mediates a different covenant. It is the center of the whole letter, the main point the author announces in verse 1.
Hebrews 8 summary
The author declares the main point: we have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places and the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. Every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices, so this one too had to have something to offer. If he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are already priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.
But as it is, Jesus has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. So God, finding fault with the people, says through Jeremiah: the days are coming when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of Egypt, for they did not continue in my covenant.
The new covenant contains four promises: God will put his laws into their minds and write them on their hearts; he will be their God and they will be his people; all will know him, from the least to the greatest; and he will be merciful toward their iniquities and remember their sins no more. The chapter closes with a consequence: in speaking of a new covenant, God makes the first one obsolete, and what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
Chapter outline
- vv. 1-2: The main point: a high priest seated at God's right hand who serves in the true tabernacle.
- vv. 3-6: Earthly priests serve a copy and shadow; Jesus has a better ministry as mediator of a better covenant.
- vv. 7-9: The first covenant was not faultless; God announced a new one through Jeremiah.
- vv. 10-12: The promises of the new covenant: law on the heart, relationship with God, knowledge and forgiveness.
- v. 13: By calling it new, God makes the first obsolete.
Key verses in Hebrews 8
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Hebrews 8:1-2
The main point of the letter is that we have a high priest seated at God's right hand, serving in the true tabernacle set up by the Lord. Christian worship centers on a heavenly priest, not an earthly building.
Hebrews 8:6
Jesus has received a more excellent ministry because he is mediator of a better covenant founded on better promises. The value of the new covenant lies in who mediates it and in what it offers.
Hebrews 8:10
God promises to put his laws in his people's minds and write them on their hearts, so that he will be their God and they his people. The change is inward: no longer only a law written on stone.
Hebrews 8:12
God promises to be merciful toward his people's iniquities and remember their sins no more. Full forgiveness is the foundation of the other promises of the new covenant.
Main themes
- Jesus, heavenly high priest
- Copy and shadow
- The new covenant
- The law on the heart
- The forgiveness of sins
People and places
- Jesus, high priest
- Moses
- Jeremiah (the prophet quoted)
- God
- The people of Israel and Judah
Hebrews 8 study questions and answers
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
1. Where is the high priest we have seated?
Answer: At the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven. — Hebrews 8:1
2. What do the earthly priests serve, according to the author?
Answer: A copy and shadow of the heavenly things. — Hebrews 8:5
3. Of what is Jesus the mediator?
Answer: Of a better covenant enacted on better promises. — Hebrews 8:6
4. With whom does God say he will make a new covenant?
Answer: With the house of Israel and the house of Judah. — Hebrews 8:8
5. Where does God promise to write his laws?
Answer: On the minds and hearts of his people. — Hebrews 8:10
6. What does God promise about his people's sins?
Answer: To be merciful toward their iniquities and remember their sins no more. — Hebrews 8:12
Application for today
Hebrews 8 shows that the Christian life does not depend on a list of outward rules but on a transformed heart. In a small group you can share how God has changed your desires over time, and recognize that obeying out of love is the work of the new covenant, not a personal merit.
Verse 12 also heals guilt. God promises not to remember the sins of those in the covenant any more. You can think together about which past sin you still carry as though it had not been forgiven, and receive that promise with gratitude.
Hebrews 8 announces the new covenant and the heavenly sanctuary. Chapter 9 describes the earthly tabernacle and shows that only the blood of Christ cleanses the conscience and opens the way to God.
Frequently asked questions about Hebrews 8
Why is the first covenant called obsolete?
Not because it was bad, but because it was provisional and pointed to something greater. The problem was not in the law but in the people, who did not continue in the covenant. With the coming of Christ, what it announced reaches its purpose.
What does it mean that the earthly tabernacle was a copy and shadow?
That it was a representation of a heavenly reality, like a blueprint or a shadow that points to the real object. Christ serves in that reality, not in an image of it.