The Daily Service
Every morning and evening a year-old lamb was burned on the altar, symbolizing the daily consecration of the nation and their constant dependence on the atoning blood of Christ. Only an offering “without blemish” could be a symbol of the perfect purity of Jesus, who was to offer Himself as “a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19). The apostle Paul says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1). Those who love Him with all the heart will give Him the best service of their life and will constantly look for ways to bring every power of their being into harmony with His will.BOE 170.7
When the priest offered incense, he came more directly into the presence of God than in any other act of the daily ministry. The glory of God that appeared above the mercy seat was partially visible from the first apartment. When the priest offered incense before the Lord, he looked toward the ark, and as the divine glory descended on the mercy seat and filled the most holy place, often the priest had to retreat to the door of the tabernacle. As the priest looked by faith to the mercy seat, which he could not see, so the people of God are now to direct their prayers to Christ, their great High Priest, who is pleading in their behalf in the sanctuary above.BOE 171.1
The incense represents the worthiness and intercession of Christ and His perfect righteousness, which through faith is credited to His people and is the only thing that can make the worship of sinful beings acceptable to God. God was to be approached by blood and by incense—symbols pointing to the great Mediator, the only one through whom mercy and salvation can be granted to the sinner who has repented.BOE 171.2
As the priests entered the holy place morning and evening, the daily sacrifice was ready to be offered on the altar in the court. This was a time of intense interest—the worshipers at the tabernacle were to search their hearts and confess their sins. Their requests rose with the cloud of incense, while their faith clung to the merits of the promised Savior that the atoning sacrifice represented. In later times the Jews, scattered as captives in distant lands, still turned their faces toward Jerusalem at the appointed hour and offered their prayers to the God of Israel. This custom gives Christians an example for morning and evening prayer. God looks with great gladness on those who bow morning and evening to seek pardon and to present their requests for blessings.BOE 171.3
The showbread was an ongoing offering, part of the daily sacrifice. It was always in the presence of the Lord (Exodus 25:30), acknowledging human dependence on God for both physical and spiritual food, received only through Christ’s mediation. God had fed Israel with bread from heaven, and they were still dependent on His gifts, both for physical food and spiritual blessings. Both the manna and the showbread pointed to Christ, the living Bread. He Himself said, “I am the living Bread which came down from heaven” (John 6:48-51). The bread was removed every Sabbath and replaced with fresh loaves.BOE 171.4
The most important part of the daily ministry was the service for the benefit of individuals. The repentant sinner brought his offering to the door of the tabernacle, and, placing his hand upon the victim’s head, confessed his sins, thus symbolically transferring the sins from himself to the innocent sacrifice. By his own hand the animal was then killed, and the priest carried the blood into the holy place and sprinkled it in front of the veil, behind which was the ark containing the law that the sinner had transgressed. By this ceremony the sin was transferred symbolically to the sanctuary through the blood. In some cases the blood was not taken into the holy place (See Appendix, Note 5.), but the flesh was eaten by the priest, as Moses directed, saying, “God has given it you to bear the guilt of the congregation” (Leviticus 10:17). Both ceremonies symbolized the transfer of sin from the repenting person to the sanctuary.BOE 172.1
This work went on day by day throughout the year. With the sins of Israel having been transferred to the sanctuary, the holy places were defiled, and a special work became necessary to remove the sins. God commanded that an atonement be made for each of the sacred apartments, as for the altar, to “cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel” (Leviticus 16:19).BOE 172.2
Once a year, on the great Day of Atonement, the high priest entered the most holy place for the cleansing of the sanctuary. He brought two kids of the goats to the door of the tabernacle and cast lots for them, “one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat.” The goat on which the first lot fell was killed as a sin offering for the people. The priest was to bring its blood within the veil and sprinkle it on the mercy seat. “So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting.”BOE 172.3
“Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land.” Not until the goat had been led away did the people regard themselves as free from the burden of their sins. All Israel were to search their hearts while the work of atonement was going forward. All business was laid aside, and the whole congregation of Israel spent the day in solemn humiliation before God, with prayer, fasting, and deep searching of heart.BOE 172.4