1. Leviticus 16:22 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What does a “remote area” refer to?

Leviticus 16:22 (ESV)

22 The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.

The adjective remote is a cognate of the verb that means, to cut off. This may signify a land from which the animal could never return. In this way the animal would be completely separated from the covenant community. This ritual symbolized the complete removal of the sins of the people.