Israel is covered by the blood of Christ for salvation in the Millennium. Ezekiel 44–46 is not teaching that millennial Israel is saved by animal blood, nor that they are outside the finished work of Calvary.
The key is to distinguish atonement for salvation from ceremonial cleansing and temple worship.
1. No one is ever saved apart from the blood of Christ
Whether before the cross, after the cross, or in the Millennium, salvation is only by God’s grace through faith, on the basis of Christ’s blood.
Romans 3:25 says of Christ:
“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood…”
Hebrews 9:22 says:
“and without shedding of blood is no remission.”
But Hebrews also makes clear that animal blood itself never actually took away sin in the saving, eternal sense:
“For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.”
— Hebrews 10:4
So if animal blood could not save in Moses’ day, it certainly will not save in Ezekiel’s future temple.
2. Ezekiel’s sacrifices are not replacing Calvary
Christ’s sacrifice is final:
“But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.”
— Hebrews 10:12
So when Ezekiel 45:15, 45:17, and 45:20 mention “reconciliation” or sin offerings, those sacrifices must be understood in a ceremonial, governmental, and temple-cleansing sense, not as eternal soul salvation.
In the Old Testament, sacrifices often dealt with worship access, uncleanness, national order, and ceremonial standing. They pointed forward to Christ.
In the Millennium, they will point backward to Christ.
They will be visible reminders that even in a righteous kingdom, access to God is only on the ground of blood.
3. Are these unsaved people in the Millennium?
There will be both saved and unsaved people in the Millennium, but Ezekiel’s temple worship is not proof that Israel as a nation is unsaved.
At the beginning of the kingdom, redeemed Israel enters under the New Covenant. Ezekiel 36:25–27 says:
“Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean…”
“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you…”
“And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes…”
That is not an unsaved Israel. That is a cleansed, converted, restored Israel.
Zechariah 12:10 also says:
“and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him…”
And Romans 11:26 says:
“And so all Israel shall be saved…”
So the restored Israel entering the kingdom is saved. They are not offering sacrifices because they lack Christ’s blood. They are offering sacrifices because God has ordained a temple order for Israel in that age.
4. But children will be born during the Millennium
The Millennium will include natural people who enter the kingdom and have children. Those children will still need to be personally saved. A perfect government does not automatically regenerate the heart.
This explains why Revelation 20 shows a final rebellion after Satan is loosed:
“And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth…”
— Revelation 20:8
So yes, there will be unsaved individuals born during the Millennium. But Ezekiel 44–46 is not describing sacrifices because saved Israel is not covered by Christ’s blood. It is describing God’s ordered temple worship in the kingdom.
5. Why have sacrifices at all, then?
For at least these reasons:
First, they memorialize Christ’s finished work. Just as the Lord’s supper now shows the Lord’s death — “this do in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19) — millennial sacrifices will visibly remind Israel and the nations of the cost of sin.
Second, they maintain ceremonial holiness in the temple. Ezekiel repeatedly emphasizes clean and unclean, holy and profane. Ezekiel 44:23 says:
“And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.”
Third, they show that even under Messiah’s righteous reign, God’s holiness has not changed. Sin is still serious. Worship is still regulated. Access to God is still by blood.
Bottom line
Israel in Ezekiel’s kingdom is not outside the blood of Christ. Saved Israel is redeemed by the same final sacrifice of Christ that saves anyone. The animal sacrifices in Ezekiel 44–46 are not saving sacrifices; they are ceremonial and memorial within Israel’s future millennial temple worship.
So the answer is:
No, restored Israel is not unsaved simply because sacrifices are present. They are covered by Christ’s blood. The sacrifices point to, remember, and ceremonially apply the truth of that blood within the future kingdom order.
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