The rituals of sacrifices, rules, and performances of the law of Moses were designed to help the children of Israel always remember God.
“The Law of Sacrifice,” Stephen D. Ricks, Ensign June 1998
Part of the value of the book of Leviticus for us today is its emphasis on the absolute need for an atonement to cleanse people from sin and bring them into communion with God.
“Journey through the Ancient Tabernacle,” Ensign March 2018
Each of the items in the Tabernacle (altar, laver, showbread, candlestick, incense, veil, and Holy of Holies) are symbolic of returning to God’s presence.
“The Israelite Background of Moses Typology in the Book of Mormon,” Noel B. Reynolds, BYU Studies 44
The lives of Lehi and Nephi naturally fit the Moses typology. This article compares themes in Exodus to the Book of Mormon.
“The Israelite Roots of Atonement Terminology,” by T. Benjamin Spackman, BYU Studies Quarterly 55, no. 1This article focuses on three common English terms—atonement, salvation, and redemption. Words related to atonement appear in the highest concentration in the Old Testament in chapters pertaining to priests and ritual matter, with fully 60 percent of occurrences found in Leviticus. The article suggests that recovering the Hebrew sources of the three terms yields more clarity about the Old Testament theology of atonement.
“Chiasmus in Leviticus 24:13-23,” Charting the Book of Mormon, John W. Welch and J. Gregory Welch, FARMS
This basic chart shows a chiasmus in which the phrase “Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth” is the central teaching.
“Exegesis or Eisegesis: Does Chiastic Analysis Help Us to Understand Leviticus 20?” Jonathan Burnside, BYU Studies Quarterly supplemental issue, 2020, Chiasmus: The State of the Art
Leviticus 20 is an example of a well-developed chiasmus in biblical law. Burnside, a prominent professor of biblical law, shows the careful internal structure of Leviticus 20, signifying its importance in the law. The chiasmus puts 20:9-16 as the central point.
“The Law of Moses and the Law of Christ,” Edward J. Brandt, Sperry Symposium Classics: The Old Testament, BYU Religious Studies Center
The Law of Moses was not all temporal but was designed and implemented to prepare people to receive the Messiah. The book of Leviticus provide the spiritual foundation for the offerings, specifically the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering.
“New Temple Festivals in the Temple Scroll,” Jacob Milgrom, The Temple in Antiquity: Ancient Records and Modern Perspectives, BYU Religious Studies Center
Milgrom, a prominent Jewish scholar, here writes for a Latter-day Saint audience. He shows that the Temple Scroll text anticipates a temple structure modeled after but replacing the desecrated temple, a messianic figure to manifest himself in this eventual temple, and that all ancient rituals would be reinstated.
“Tabernacle of Moses,” Video by Huntington Beach Stake
In 2017, BYU Religious Education hosted a replica of Moses’s Tabernacle on BYU campus. This replica was created earlier by the Huntington Beach California Stake. A video created by the Huntington Beach Stake shows the courtyard, the Holy Place, the Holy of Holies, and the items used for worship.
