Two Sanctuaries

In the Bible two sanctuaries of God are spoken of. One is called the earthly tabernacle, one the heavenly. One’ was built by Moses in the wilderness, and the other was built by God in heaven. One was only a type; the other, the antitype, or true tabernacle. The services of the tabernacle on earth were performed by the members of the Aaronic priesthood; those of the heavenly, by Jesus Christ, who is our High Priest. (Hebrews 8:1, 2.) In the earthly sanctuary the blood of animals was offered daily as a type of the sacrifice of Christ, who had promised to become the sinner’s substitute. In the heavenly Jesus presents His own blood as the sacrificial atonement for the sins of His people.DOF 268.3

Of the earthly tabernacle the Lord said to Moses:DOF 269.1

“Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall you make it.” “And thou shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.” “And thou shall put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shall put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.” Exodus 25:8, 9, 16, 21, 22.DOF 269.2

And after carefully instructing Moses how to make certain other furnishings, such as altars, table, candlestick, etc., he added: “Look that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount.” Verse 40. Of the heavenly sanctuary we read:DOF 269.3

“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. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and ‘sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this Man have somewhat also to offer. For if He were on earth, He should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, says He, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.” Hebrews 8:1-5.DOF 269.4

Thus it is clearly revealed that there were two sanctuaries: an earthly (or, as rendered in Hebrews 9:1, A.R.V., “a sanctuary of the world”), and a heavenly. The “sanctuary of the world” was a type of the heavenly, and its services were only “the example and shadow of heavenly things.” The heavenly is “the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” The high priests in the earthly sanctuary offered “gifts and sacrifices,” and it was necessary that Christ, the Priest of the heavenly sanctuary, “have somewhat also to offer.”DOF 270.1

The sanctuary of this world, with its typical services, was only a temporary arrangement made by God, by which to teach the people the great fundamental truth of the gospel; i.e., that remission of sins is essential to eternal life, and can be secured only through the shed blood of the Lamb of God, who would die as a ransom for men, and whose death was typified by the blood of animals. This temporary typical arrangement was to continue only until the death of Jesus, after which time it would have no further meaning, since it was simply a shadow of the cross. Thus we read:DOF 270.2

“The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. But Christ being come a High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Hebrews 9:8-14.DOF 270.3

Here we see that Paul refers to the sanctuary in the wilderness as “the first tabernacle.” Hence there must have been a second. The first “was a figure for the time then present.” Its service was “imposed on them until the time of reformation”—the opening of the gospel dispensation. Christ is stated to be a “High Priest of ... a greater and more perfect tabernacle.” He ministers not “the blood of goats and calves,” but “His own blood.”DOF 271.1

“Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary” (Hebrews 9:1), but Christ is a minister of a “more perfect tabernacle.” Verse 11. From the foregoing scriptures there can be no question that the Bible clearly reveals two distinct sanctuaries of God, one of which is the true, and of which the other was a type, or shadow.DOF 271.2