The sight of blood is alarming. It signals that something is wrong, because blood belongs in the body. Life is in the blood. But for the ancient Israelite culture, blood also signified something else: cleansing. The thought of blood being used to clean anything now is more than strange to us, but there was a cultural and spiritual significance to it for the Israelites. As we seek to understand why, we may begin to understand even more what the blood of Jesus has done for us.