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Leviticus 16:5-10 (NASB)
"And he shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering… [7] "And he shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting. [8] "And Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. [9] "Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell, and make it a sin offering. [10] "But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.
Leviticus 16:25-26 (NASB)
"Then he shall offer up in smoke the fat of the sin offering on the altar. [26] "And the one who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water; then afterward he shall come into the camp.
This passage taken from Leviticus is the original directive of Moses to the Israelites on the ritual of the “Scapegoat.” God give these literal rituals that would someday point us to Jesus in their future. This is no exception. This ritual is a prediction of the trial of Jesus.
Matthew 27:15-26 (NASB)
Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the multitude any one prisoner whom they wanted. [16] And they were holding at that time a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. [17] When therefore they were gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” …… [20] But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the multitudes to ask for Barabbas, and to put Jesus to death. [21] But the governor answered and said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” [22] Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let Him be crucified!” [23] And he said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they kept shouting all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!” [24] And when Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.” [25] And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children!” [26] Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he delivered Him to be crucified.
Jesus (Son of the Father) and Barabbas (Bar – son of: abba – Father) were the antitype of the two identical goats. One was selected by the crowd that day to be sacrificed and the other was to be set free. The larger picture of course is that we were the scapegoat that was set free – just another picture of the atoning work of Christ as you said.
The Jews modified the ritual and had the scapegoat pushed over a cliff after it was taken out of the city. This addition messes up the ritual because the scapegoat was entirely free it didn’t die; but they didn’t know what the ritual was all about.
The one who delivered the goat to the wilderness was told to wash before he returned to the camp. Note that Pilate washed his hands of the innocent blood the Religious leaders had shed that day. Not sure if this fits exactly, but it is a curiosity.
What happened to my diagram. Is the “insert image” button thingy disabled?