We have noted that Isaiah 53 describes the death so essential to a change of covenant. Now look carefully at Hebrews 9 as it answers questions like these: When did the Old Covenant—also called “the first covenant”—come to an end? What did God use to establish or begin the New Covenant? When did the New Covenant take effect?
How much more [than animal blood] will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore He is the mediator of a new covenant…. For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. (Hebrews 9:14-17)
“Covenant” (9:15) and “will” (9:16-17) are the same word in Greek. When does a will take effect? At death! The Old Covenant began and continued with inferior blood, that of animals (Hebrews 9:7, 13, 18-23). Those old pictures were fulfilled by the “once for all” death of Jesus, by which the New Covenant came into effect. Clearly, Christ’s death is the momentous, pivotal event, the scarlet dividing line between the old and the new. Letting the Bible tell about itself—in this case, God’s timing for the change of covenant—makes many more things understandable.