2:17. This verse could be translated: “For these were a shadow of future things, but the substance belongs to Christ.” The Mosaic dietary restrictions and calendar celebrations (v. 16) were a shadow of things to come in that they foreshadowed or foretold of coming spiritual blessings. But the substance of these blessings or these divine benefits themselves come, not from the law, but from Christ. The Colossians, then, should not allow heretics to tie them up with legalistic rules and regulations.