Leviticus teaches us the sin is contagious. It spreads from man to the things he touches, uses, inhabits, although it’s difficult for us to see this as a physical contagion. The power-point, however, seems to me to be the seriousness with which God expected His people to respond to instances of sin in the community.
Defilement affected the whole community and if not publicly dealt with by the priests and purged with thorough cleansing it would spread. It could never be swept under the carpet! It could never be ignored! It could never be dismissed as insignificant. The solidarity of the whole community was at stake, because there is no such thing as private sin.We’re all in the same boat, and anything that weakens the structure in any part of the boat effects weakens the whole vessel. Sin, like the iceberg, may have only put holes on one part of the ship, but everyone suffers the consequences. Thus, sin must never be taken lightly.
But there is a remedy for all our sin. Christ can cleanse us all.