Wine in the New Testament represents the covenantal relationship with God, and Jesus' hour to seal the New Covenant with His blood had not yet come at the Cana wedding (John 2:4). On the eve of His crucifixion, at the Passover, He said the cup of wine represented the New Covenant in His blood (Luke 22:20; I Corinthians 11:25), and sealing it would cost Him His life. By supplying wine at the wedding, He met a physical need and pointed to the greater spiritual need He would fill when He instituted the covenant. The people had only water for man-devised purification rites, but they needed the wine of the New Covenant. Unlike the Old Covenant, it includes forgiveness, a personal relationship with the Father and the Son, and the divine law written on the heart (Hebrews 8:8-12). The blood that ratified the Old Covenant was sprinkled on the outside (Exodus 24:8), but the blood of the New Covenant, symbolized by wine, flows into a person. Wine also gladdens the heart (Psalm 104:15; Judges 9:13), and the covenant's spiritual wine likewise cheers those who receive it. Zechariah 10 foretells that God will regather Israel and Judah, offer them the blood of the New Covenant, free them from the enslaving traditions of Judaism and Babylonish Christianity, and cause them to rejoice as with wine.