Leviticus 16:21 Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send [it] away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. This is an interesting verse. When Aaron lays his hands on the live goat (aka. the scapegoat) the Hebrew text says he cast the punishment for the sins of the children of Israel on it. It wasn’t just the sin that was transferred, it was the guilt and punishment for those sins. The goat was then sent into the wilderness (where it was probably eaten by lions or other animals in short order). The symbolism is that their sins were removed, and they never saw them again. This is what Jesus did for us on the cross, too. Our guilt and our punishment for our sins were placed on Him (our scapegoat). He was killed in the wilderness of our world and our sins were completely removed from the eyes of God. I once read somewhere that the Israelites would place a scarlet thread outside or inside the temple and that after the scapegoat was removed it would miraculously turn from red to white. However, once Jesus died, the miracle no longer occurred. Jesus removed the need to offer continual sacrifices. I think God has a remarkable imagination and an amazing way of using symbols to help us understand what He does in our lives. Sometimes this makes it a little tricky, but maybe that makes the search more satisfying.