With the opening lines, the writer of Hebrews divides all of history in two—a contrast of the old and the new. Under the old, God’s people could only glimpse a shadow of His glorious unfolding story of redemption. But in Christ, we see it in its entirety—the fulfillment of what He’d been doing all along. Seeds that were planted and grew throughout the Old Testament now stand as towering trees in the person and work of Jesus. He is not only the perfect fulfillment of every old covenantal requirement, He is superior to everything that has gone before.