Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption [for us]. Hebrews 9:12

As I watched the medical technician pick a vein in my arm to draw out my dark maroon deoxegenated red blood I had very little on my mind except which drink and snack to choose afterwards and how the others around me were doing. But as I began to squeeze rythmically and watch the metered flow through the sterile tubing it hit me, the intensity of color and thickness of that substance, there is nothing like it. Normally we think of bright living colors as green or blue, but here was blood. (My wife says this is morbid, but read on.) Normally we are quarantined away from blood. Don’t touch it! Wear gloves! Imagine buying a steak with the blood still in it, yuck. We’re commanded not to eat it, although some people do eat it cooked (sangrecita), we don’t usually. So when the Bible speaks of blood, and it is a very, very, bloody book, it is natural to think of the blood of Christ only in terms of a metaphor. So off we go to the concordance for more insight. Well, only a small number of the sixty-six books of scripture don’t have something in reference to blood. But Leviticus 17:14 stands out: “…for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof…” That thought comes alive as you see blood in it’s actual form; thick, salty, and so elegant in design as a fluid of amazing comlexity, yet it is a basic substance of life and can be transferred as life to other humans
By a measured hope I know and understand that the replenishable fluid in my body can give life in the form of a transfusion, though I cannot put a face on recipient of my donation. But Christ saw the face of sinful humanity as He spread life and peace through His blood, cleansing and purifying the heavenly altar in that once for all donation. His blood was dark red too.

A word to the wise, eat a hearty breakfast if you plan to give blood.