Leviticus 1 is devoted to the Burnt Offering. It wan an offering of praise to God and had the special purpose of making the worshipper feel a sense of acceptance by God. Verse 4 says, “Lay your hand on the animal’s head, and the Lord will accept its death in your place to purify you making you right with Him.” (NLT). In verse 9, Moses writes, “It is a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord”. (NLT). Wikipedia states that according to Jewish tradition the Burnt Offering was made twice a day during the first and second temple periods in the morning and evening and was to burn all 24 hours evidently so the worshippers would know their praise and prayers were being heard by God Almighty whenever they were offered.
The great thing about this and other offerings was that it recognized the different levels of economic ability; with three different types of gifts for sacrifice, no one was too poor to participate. In Leviticus 6:8-13, God gave additional instructions to the priests for completing the sacrifices.
In Hebrews chapter 9, Paul points to this and other sacrifices when he says “this is an illustration pointing to the present time. For the gifts and sacrifices that the priests offer are not able to cleanse the consciences of the people who bring them”. Hebrews 9:9 (NLT). Then Paul goes on to explain how much better the new covenant is than the old covenant. The old covenant looked forward to the coming of Christ whereas the new covenant looked back on Christ’s finished work on the cross. All of Hebrews 9 should be read for a better understanding of the sacrifices.