It is hard for us to imagine what entering a sanctuary or offering a sacrifice meant to ancient man. The sanctuary was holiness in perpetuity, a miracle in continuity; the divine was mirrored in the air, sowing blessing, closing gaps between the here and the beyond. In offering a sacrifice, man mingled with mystery, reached the summit of significance: sin was consumes, self-abandoned, satisfaction was bestowed with divinity. Is it possible for us today to conceive of the solemn joy of those whose offering was placed on the altar ?

וְאָבוֹאָה, אֶל-מִזְבַּח אֱלֹהִים

 אֶל אֵל שִׂמְחַת גִּילִי:

וְאוֹדְךָ בְכִנּוֹר,

אֱלֹהִים אֱלֹהָי.

A.J, Heschel, The Prophets, JPS, pp 197-198