THE EARTHLY AND HEAVENLY SANCTUARIES

The Adventists carefully studied about the earthly sanctuary that Moses built at the command of God. Moses was to build a sanctuary the same as the pattern shown to him in the mountain. The Bible students learned that the earthly sanctuary was a copy of the heavenly sanctuary. (Hebrews 9:9)SRme 1.1646

The believers also learned that the two holy places were "patterns of things in the heavens" (Heb. 9:23). The believers studied Hebrews 8:1, 2. These verses showed that Jesus, our great High Priest, is a minister in the heavenly sanctuary that was built by God and not by man. In Hebrews 9:24 they read: "For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence" (NIV).SRme 1.1647

The sanctuary in heaven, where Jesus ministers for us, is the great original. The sanctuary built by Moses was a copy of the heavenly sanctuary. The earthly sanctuary had two rooms - the holy place and the most holy place. The heavenly sanctuary also has two holy rooms.SRme 1.1648

The ark containing the law of God, the altar of incense, and other furniture in the earthly sanctuary, are copies of things in the sanctuary in heaven. In holy vision the apostle John was permitted to enter heaven. There John saw the candlestick and the altar of incense. As the temple of God was opened, John also saw the sacred ark containing the ten commandments. (Read Revelation 4:5; 8:3; 11:19.)SRme 1.1649

The people who searched for truth found proof that there is a sanctuary in heaven. John said he saw the sanctuary in heaven. Moses made the earthly sanctuary the same as a pattern shown him. Paul said the pattern was the true sanctuary in heaven. (Hebrews 8:2, 5)SRme 1.1650

The 2300 days ended in 1844. No sanctuary had been on earth for hundreds of years. So the sanctuary in heaven must be the sanctuary spoken of in Daniel 8:14. But why would the sanctuary in heaven need cleansing? How could it [the sanctuary] be cleansed? The students of prophecy again studied the Bible. Now they learned that the cleansing was with blood. So the cleansing must be a cleansing from sin, not from physical pollution. "Those things, which are copies of the heavenly originals, had to be purified in that way [purified with blood of animals]. But the heavenly things themselves require much better sacrifices [the blood of Christ]" (Heb. 9:23, TEV).SRme 1.1651

To learn more about the cleansing that the prophecy describes, the people needed to understand the ministry of Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary. Understanding the heavenly sanctuary could be learned only by understanding the services in the earthly sanctuary. Paul says of the earthly priests that "the work they do as priests is really only a copy and a shadow of what is in heaven" (Heb. 8:15).SRme 1.1652