God is Holy - Leviticus

For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God.  You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

(Leviticus 11:45)

I have to admit that when I began reading through Leviticus I was a little overwhelmed by all of the details for sacrifices and uncleanness.  Then I came to the verse above.  It is remarkable that God acted first - He brought the people out of Egypt.  He claimed them as His own people, to be set apart...

You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.  

(Leviticus 20:26)

So the Israelites' holiness was important.  If they were to be God's people, then they must be holy.  This is the heart of Leviticus, I think, and thus the need for details about how to be clean.  How else could God dwell among them?

Enter the great goodness of God in giving the sacrificial system and  priests- because we are not clean, not in the midst of a holy & just God.  One other theme that kept coming up was how the sacrifices must be pure... they had to be 'clean' animals without blemish.

Again and again, this whole book made me realize just how amazing it is that God provided the ultimate sacrifice in Jesus.  The following passage in 1 Peter does well in summing up not only how He perfectly fit the pattern of Leviticus but also what our response should be in light of God's holiness.

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

(1 Peter 1:13-19, emphasis mine)

For more on how Jesus perfectly fulfills the Old Covenant and ushers in the New Covenant, read Hebrews.  It is rich.