How were people saved in the Old Testament:

It was by the Laws that the Hebrew people were reminded of how unworthy they are of God’s Kingdom. However, by following the Priestly duties found within the Laws of Moses they could be forgiven of their sins.

Like the moral laws, the laws governing priestly duties total in the hundreds. However, these laws are summarized in Leviticus 5:5-6:

” ‘When anyone is guilty in any of these ways, he must confess in what way he has sinned and, as a penalty for the sin he has committed, he must bring to the LORD a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.

It is by the Moral Laws that we are convicted of sin. To find forgiveness, our sins must be paid for by sacrificing an unblemished lamb. The lamb (or goat, or bull) will pay the penalty for our sins, that is death.

While the Priestly duties may appear arbitrary, and may even have appeared so to the ancient Hebrew people, the gestures expressed are symbolically very significant. This redemption pointed forward (perhaps unknowingly to the ancient Hebrew people) to the ultimate and final sacrifice of the Lamb of God; the crucifixion of Christ.

In this way, while the Old Covenant condemned man, it offered salvation by pointing forward to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming-not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Hebrews 10:1-4