Moses was directed to make the tabernacle after the "pattern" which was shown him in the mount. (Ex. 25:40.) This is referred to again and again in the book of Hebrews. We are told that "the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary." Heb. 9:I. By the word "also" reference is made to the new-covenant sanctuary mentioned in the previous chapter. (Heb. 8:1, 2.) So the new covenant had a sanctuary as "also" the old covenant had a sanctuary. The earthly sanctuary was an example "of things in the heavens." Heb. 9:23. "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us." Verse 24.
What was shown Moses, then, was not simply a sketch or blueprint, but figures (Cf.—Antitupa, "copy, image, effigy, form, or likeness") of the true (Gr.—Aletkinon, "that which is real,") "i.e. the original, or heavenly sanctuary, of which the earthly one is a mere copy."—Moses Stuart, Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, p. 459. It is perhaps significant that the word "true" here is plural in the Greek, as is the word "holy places." The Emphatic Diaglott gives the literal translation from the Greek thus: "For the Anointed One did not enter Holy places made by hands, the anti-types of the true ones." And G. R. Berry, in his Greek Interlinear New Testament, translated it: "For not into holies made by hands entered the Christ, figures of the true [ones]."
Two Chambers in the Heavenly Temple
The Bible, we believe, clearly teaches that the glorious temple, or sanctuary of God in heaven has two distinct divisions representing the two phases of work for man's salvation to be done there. While our chief attention should be focused on the work being accomplished by Christ's ministry in the heavenly temple, it is well to note the teaching of God's word regarding the temple itself, the prototype of the earthly sanctuary.
The earthly sanctuary was only "a miniature representation of the heavenly temple," "a dim reflection of the glories of the temple of God in heaven, the great center of the work for man's redemption."—Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 343, 349. That glorious temple is the place, where, in the time of the great Judgment, thousand thou sands will minister unto Him and ten thousand times ten thousand will stand before Him. (Dan. 7:to.)
It is easy to understand the absolute necessity of the two apartments in the earthly sanctuary in order that the two types of priestly service required might be carried on. It should also be ob served that Solomon's temple had these two essential chambers, and likewise Zerubbabers and Herod's temples. And just as the Lord revealed to Moses the pattern for the wilderness tabernacle, so the pattern of Solomon's temple was revealed to David "by the Spirit."Chron. 28:12.
In view of this continual emphasis in the book of Hebrews on the fact that the earthly sanctuary and its service was a type, figure, copy, or likeness of the heavenly, is it not reasonable to conclude that the great temple in heaven, where our High Priest ministers for sinners, has two chambers and also the two types of service? If the earthly and its service was a "shadow of heavenly things" (Heb. 8:5), can there really be any doubt that these heavenly things are like the earthly in such essential features?
But we have even more direct evidence. These two apartments have been seen in heaven. In vision John was permitted to see the temple of God. He saw "seven lamps of fire burning before the throne," and he saw an angel who "stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne." Rev. 4:5; 8:3. The golden candlestick with its seven lamps and the altar of incense (Ex. 25:35, 37; 30:1, 6) were in the first apartment of the earthly sanctuary. Then again: "The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament." Rev. II :19. The proto type of this was, of course, the sacred ark of the testimony in the most holy place which contained the law of God. (Ex. 25:50, 16; 26:33.)
The Meaning of the "Veil"
Those who oppose our views on the heavenly sanctuary insist that there is no intervening veil in the temple of God in heaven. But there is no such statement in the Bible. Matthew 27:50, 51, where the statement is made that the veil in the temple at Jerusalem was rent when Jesus died, is sometimes given to prove their contention. But this text makes no reference to the absence of a veil in the heavenly sanctuary; rather it indicates that the typical services on earth had come to an end, and that soon "by His own blood" our true High Priest would enter "into the holy place, hav ing obtained eternal redemption for us." Heb. 9 :12. The "holy place" (or "holy places"—Greek) into which He entered, we are told, was "heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us." Verse 24. Soon after His resurrection Christ ascended to heaven, there to begin His work of mediation in the "true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." Heb. 8:2.
Another effort to prove that the two apartments on earth did not represent two apartments in heaven, is based on an interpretation of Hebrews 10:19, 20, that the "veil" represents the flesh of Christ. These verses read: "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh." It is difficult to see, even if this interpretation were accepted, how that would prove that there are not two apartments or two types of ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. But there are many Bible scholars who dissent from this interpretation, believing that "His flesh" is the "new and living way" and not the "veil." The reading of both the English and the American re vised versions lends itself to this interpretation. They read: "By the way which He dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh."
W. H. G. Holmes, of the Oxford Mission in Calcutta., in his book The Epistle to the Hebrews, says:
"What is this way, which is new and living, by which we can pass through the veil? The answer is that it is His flesh. It is because the Word was made flesh that He has become the Way (St. John xiv. 6), that men may become His members, and 'in His blood' pass into the very Presence of God. What is the veil through which they pass? The veil is all that keeps men from the true knowledge of God and shuts off access to Him.
"The Way is the Way of the Incarnation and the Sac rifice that it includes. It is new because though dedi cated in eternity it is new in time, and remains ever fresh in efficacy. It is living, for He ever liveth to im part life. To tread the ways of earth is to grow wearier each step ; to walk in Christ. the Way, is continually to receive new supplies .of life."
"This interpretation," he says, "requires that the comma after 'way' be deleted."—Page 368. Punctuation marks, as all Bible students know, are not in the original and must be determined by the evident meaning of the words and grammatical construction.
Bishop B. F. Westcott, a most noted Greek scholar, takes the same position. He suggests the following construction : "A way through the veil, that is, a way consisting in His flesh, His true human nature."
"This construction appears to be followed by our early English translations." He mentions Tyndale, Coverdale, and others; then he further says:
"The Greek certainly admits this construction : . . . And the sense agrees perfectly with the argument. . . The thought which is thus expressed of 'a way consist ing in Christ's flesh' falls in perfectly with the scope of the passage. It was by the 'way of His flesh,' by a way which lay in His humanity, that Christ entered through the veil after the offering of Himself as a High Priest able to sympathize with men. And it is by the 'way of His flesh,' as sharing in the virtue of His humanity, and sprinkled with His blood, that Christians come before God."—Epistle to the Hebrews, p. 320.
Yes, thank God, Christ who "was made flesh" is the way. He became the Son of man, and He entered "within the yeil," thus making it possible for us to enter into heaven by the power of His human life. (Heb. 4:14; 6:19, 20.)
"In the Presence of God"
If the plain teaching of the book of Hebrews is accepted, that both the earthly sanctuary and its services foreshadowed the heavenly sanctuary and its services (Heb. 8:5), then the conclusion is inevitable that Christ after His ascension entered upon His ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, and that this long period of ministry in the holy place will be followed by a short period of judgment—the antitypical day of atonement.
Our critics stress the fact that Christ entered heaven "to appear in the presence of God for us" (Heb. 9:24), and assert triumphantly that inasmuch as there could be no place more holy than where God is, Christ did not begin His work of ministry in a first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, later to finish it in a second or most holy place. They complain that our teaching puts Christ in a place separate from the Father. But these critics seem to be guilty of confining God to a place, for they insist that "in the presence of God" must be in a particular place, and certainly not in a first chamber of the temple in heaven. But let us note that Christ is at the right hand of God in "heavenly places" (plural). Eph. I :20.
It is true that the presence of God was manifested in the second apartment of the earthly sanctuary, the place where the sacred law was kept, and which was the place of final judgment at the end of the round of yearly services, but God's presence was also manifested elsewhere. (See Ex. 40 :35 ; 33 :9-11 ; Num. 12 :5 ; Ex. 29:42.)
In current phraseology we do not limit the expression, "on the throne," as referring to a particular seat or room. At his coronation the king of England is literally seated on a throne, which may be seen in Westminster Abbey. But there are other thrones for him—one in the House of Lords, another in the Canadian Parliament House, and still another at New Delhi, India. In any of these places he is on the throne. In fact, a ruler may be anywhere and yet rightfully be said to be "on the throne." So, in the heavenly sanctuary the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant, overshadowed by the cherubim, may be, in one sense, God's dwelling place. Yet it would be childish to under stand such expressions as "He sitteth between ["above," A.R.V.] the cherubims" (Ps. 8o :1; 99:1) as teaching that God is confined to one place in the universe He created.
It is often argued that the expression, "within the veil," used to describe the place which Christ entered as High Priest (Heb. 6:19, 20), could refer only to the most holy place. The two veils in the earthly sanctuary, one as an entrance to the holy place and the other as an entrance to the most holy, were of the same material and construction. While "the distinction of the two is not strictly preserved in the LXX" in the Hebrew two distinct words are used for these two veils. (WEscott, The Epistle to the Hebrews, p. 163.) The word for the outer veil is Masak, "hanging," and the word for the inner veil is Pahrocheth, "veil." An exception to this is found in Numbers 18:7, where the word used for 'outer veil is Pah rocheth. That it refers to the outer veil is clear from verse five. And the expression here is the same as in Hebrews 6:19, "within the veil." It should be noted, too, that when the author of He brews refers to the inner veil, he calls it "the second veil." Heb. 9:3. So if a sanctuary veil is referred to in Hebrews 6:19, it must be the first veil. This is another evidence that Christ's Priestly work began in the first chamber of the heavenly sanctuary.
We are told in the beautiful prophecy of the "Branch" (Christ) in Zechariah 6:13, 14, that "He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His throne; and He shall be a priest upon His throne: and the counsel of peace shall be be tween them both." As priest, Christ is now sit ting down with His Father on His throne (Rev. 3:21) and the mediation in behalf of sinners goes on. When this work is completed, and sin and Satan are forever destroyed, "the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David" (Luke 1:32), and He "shall sit in the throne of His glory" (Matt. 1928).?
