Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. (Hebrews 09:01-05, NKJV).
Maybe it's because life is inherently fragile and uncertain; fate and circumstances can change for the worse in an instant; no one anywhere no matter how advantaged, protected or privileged is guaranteed more than the moment at hand.
Or maybe it's because we are too broken as creatures to be able to comprehend what the Lord has in store for us for all eternity.
Whatever the reason(s), an earthly sanctuary is, at one time or another, on everybody's wish list.
Who doesn't want a place of safety and peace? Who doesn't want to be enclosed and protected within a place of unassailable power?
It is no accident, then, that God provided His people with detailed specifications for the construction of an earthly copy of the true heavenly sanctuary. He did it out of love and a desire to instruct His people.
From the earliest history of the Children of Israel, God established a means (animal sacrifice), and a place (the Tabernacle - and later the Temple) where His people could come to meet Him. It was both a symbolic edifice, a picture of stunning and meaningful truths about the Promised Messiah, and a physical anchor, a concrete, tangible, and sanctified meeting place where sinners could draw close to their holy Creator.
It was an unprecedented gift, a noble condescension on the Father's part indicating, perhaps above all else, His ancient longing to reestablish fellowship with fallen mankind.
He designed it as a place of both awe and protection, judgment and mercy, incalculable glory and eminent approachability. This place of worship, this earthly sanctuary, became the central focus of Israel, and remains so to this day, even though the physical building was destroyed almost 2000 years ago. Astonishing!
Yet, the emphasis in these verses is not on the magnificent Temple built by Solomon, but on the humble Tent of Meeting in the wilderness, so far removed from the writer of Hebrew's experience that he felt unqualified to delve more deeply into its physical aspects beyond a summary description (Of these things we cannot now speak in detail).
His purpose, I believe, is to yet again highlight the superiority of the New Covenant over the Old by contrasting Christ, the Cornerstone of the Living Temple - the eternal church, with a portable, temporary construction made of badger skins, cloth, metal coatings and wood.
He is not in anyway denigrating the Old, but is again using it as a signpost that has always pointed to the New.
Everything about the Tabernacle represented a foreshadowing of the work and ministry of Christ, from the lampstand that was never to be bereft of flame (Jesus being the Light of the World), to the Showbread and Manna (Jesus is the Bread of Life), to the purposely hidden gold (His divinity cloaked in humanity), to the second veil separating the sanctuary from the Holiest of All (the veil being His flesh, as Hebrews 10 will tell us), and ultimately leading to the mercy seat, where the justice of God and the grace of God came together in complete harmony through the Cross of Christ.
That mercy seat, though adjacent to the earthly sanctuary, was only accessible to the High Priest once a year on the Day of Atonement (itself a pointer to Christ's atoning death), and then only after rigorous and diligent animal sacrifices were made for both the Priest and the people.
But the new Covenant has none of those restrictions. That veil of separation between us and the Mercy Seat has been ripped in two forever, and we are commanded to come not once a year, but always and boldly to the throne of grace to find mercy and help in time of need.
However magnificent and satisfying and gracious the earthly sanctuary was to the people of the Old Covenant, it is nothing in comparison to the New.
We who are in Christ are not restricted to a geographic location, or a calendar date to draw near to God. Nor are we dependent on the officiation of a priest, or even a king. We are His children who worship God in spirit and in truth anywhere and everywhere and anytime.
We are, ourselves, the Temple of the Living God through faith in His Son.
Our sanctuary is incorruptible, always accessible, and is not a place, but a Person, who is our all-powerful, all-knowing Creator, Lord, King, Savior, Priest, and Friend.
There can be no greater safety.
