THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY
“Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” Hebrews 8:1, 2. “A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.” Jeremiah 17:12; Revelation 16:17; Psalm 11:4. “For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from Heaven did the Lord behold the earth.” Psalm 102:19.S23D 74.1
THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY HAS TWO HOLY PLACES.-The following testimony on this point is conclusive. We gather it from the Old and New Testaments, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 1. The tabernacle erected by Moses, after a forty-days’ inspection of the one shown him in the mount, consisted of two holy places (Exodus 26:30-33), and is declared to be a correct pattern, or model, of that building. Exodus 25:8, 9, 40, compared with chap. 39:32-43. But if the earthly sanctuary consisted of two holy places, and the great original, from which it was copied, consisted of only one, instead of likeness, there would be perfect dissimilarity. 2. The temple was built in every respect according to the pattern which God gave to David by the Spirit. 1 Chronicles 28:10-19. And Solomon, in addressing God, says, “Thou hast commanded me to build a temple upon thy holy mount, and an altar in the city wherein thou dwellest, a resemblance of the holy tabernacle which thou hast prepared from the beginning.” Wis. Sol. 9:8. The temple was built on a larger and grander scale than the tabernacle; but its distinguishing feature, like the tabernacle, consisted in the fact that it was composed of two holy places. 1 Kings 6; 2 Chronicles 3. This is clear proof that the heavenly tabernacle contains the same. 3. Paul plainly states that “the holy places [plural] made with hands” “are the figures [plural] of the true.” And the tabernacle, and its vessels, are “patterns of things in the heavens.” Hebrews 9:23, 24. This is direct evidence that, in the greater and more perfect tabernacle, there are two holy places, even as in the “figure,” “example,” or “pattern.” 4. The apostle actually uses the word holies (plural), in speaking of the heavenly sanctuary. The expression “holiest of all,” in Hebrews 9:8; 10:19, has been supposed by some to prove that Christ began to minister in the most holy place at his ascension. But the expression is not “hagia hagion,” holy of holies, as in chapter 9:3; but is simply “hagion,” holies. It is the same word that is rendered sanctuary in Hebrews 8:2. In each of these three texts (Hebrews 8:2; 9:8; 10:19), Macknight renders the word, “holy places.” The Douay Bible renders it “the holies.” And thus we learn that the heavenly sanctuary consists of two “holy places.”S23D 74.2
VESSELS OF THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY.-We have noticed particularly the vessels of the earthly sanctuary, and have cited divine testimony to show that they were patterns of the true in Heaven.S23D 75.1
This is strikingly confirmed by the fact that in the heavenly sanctuary we find the like vessels. 1. The ark of God’s testament, and the cherubim. Revelation 11:19; Psalm 99:1. 2. The golden altar of incense. Revelation 8:3; 9:13. 3. The candlestick with the seven lamps. Revelation 4:5; Zechariah 4:2. 4. The golden censer. Revelation 8:3. This heavenly sanctuary is called by David, Habakkuk, and John, “The temple of God in Heaven” (Psalm 11:4; Habakkuk 2:20; Revelation 11:19); God’s “holy habitation” (Zechariah 2:13; Jeremiah 25:30; Revelation 16:17); “greater and more perfect tabernacle” (Hebrews 9:11); “the sanctuary, and true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” Hebrews 8:2.S23D 76.1