John Calvin Commentary Leviticus 16:26

"And he that letteth go the goat for Azazel shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp." — Leviticus 16:26 (ASV)

And he that let the goat go. Since this goat was the outcast (κάθαπμα) of God’s wrath, and devoted to His curse, he who led it away is commanded to wash his person and his clothes, as if he were a partaker in its defilement.

By this symbol the faithful were reminded how very detestable is their iniquity, so that they might be affected with increasing dread whenever they considered what they deserved. For when they saw a man forbidden to enter the camp because he was polluted by simply touching the goat, they had to reflect how much wider was the alienation between God and themselves, when they bore upon them an uncleanness not contracted elsewhere, but procured by their own sin.

The same may be said of him who burned the skin, the flesh, and the dung of the bullock and the goat. We have elsewhere seen that these remnants were carried out of the camp as a token of abomination.

And in this regard Christ’s inestimable love towards us shines more brightly, who did not disdain to go out of the city so that He might be made an outcast (rejectamentum) for us, and might undergo the curse due to us.