Hebrews 9 draws back the curtain on two sanctuaries – one earthly, temporary, and bounded by strict limitations; the other heavenly, eternal, and thrown open by the blood of Christ. The Old Testament tabernacle, with its sacred furniture and annual blood sacrifices, was a parable pointing to something infinitely greater. Through the once-for-all sacrifice of the sinless Son of God, the way into the very presence of God has been opened to every believer. The conscience that no ritual could quiet is purged, eternal redemption that can never be taken away is purchased, and the invitation stands for all – not to serve God from guilt, but to draw near with confidence and serve Him from a place of gratitude and acceptance.
Hebrews 9:1-14 sets two sanctuaries side by side: the Old Testament earthly tabernacle, beautiful and God-ordained but temporary, and the heavenly sanctuary where Christ now ministers as High Priest. The contrast reveals not only the superiority of the new but the purpose the old was always intended to serve – a parable, an earthly story with a heavenly meaning, pointing to realities that would one day be fully revealed.
The Old Testament tabernacle was constructed into two rooms: the holy place and the holiest of all. In the holy place stood the candlestick, the table of showbread, and here the everyday priests would minister. Behind the veil lay the holiest of all, containing the golden censer, the ark of the covenant with its mercy seat, the golden pot of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant. Every piece of furniture carried rich spiritual typology – the one door recalls Christ saying “I am the door,” the brazen altar with its bleeding victim points to the Lamb of God, the candlestick to the light of the world, the bread to the bread of life.
The holiest of all was unapproachable. Only the high priest could enter, only once a year on the Day of Atonement, carrying blood for himself and for the errors of the people. The procedure was exact and deviation meant certain death. Even bells were placed on the border of the priest’s garment so that his approach would be heard. God’s presence dwelt above the mercy seat between the cherubims, and from there He had spoken to Moses. No one else could come near.
A beautiful picture emerges from the arrangement inside the ark: the law of God within, the mercy seat above, and the blood sprinkled upon it. When God looked down, the broken law was covered by the blood. Justice and mercy are not to be pitted one against the other. People tend to amplify either God’s justice or God’s mercy according to personal bias, distorting the other. But mercy without justice is corruption, and justice without mercy can be very austere and cruel. In God, all attributes come together in perfect harmony. He is completely fair – it is human assessments that become imbalanced.
The Holy Spirit used the tabernacle to show that the way into God’s very presence was not yet open. The entire system was, as one commentator notes, merely a parable of the great truth later to be revealed. Its inability is also clear: the gifts and sacrifices could not make the conscience perfect. They related mainly to outward and ceremonial rites. They could not expiate guilt or bring peace to the soul. A man who confessed his sins to a priest did not feel any different, because a priest cannot take sin away. Going through ceremonial ablutions will not fix the true problem of sin or clear the conscience. These things typified what would need to take place inwardly.
The clear line of demarcation came at the cross. When Jesus said “It is finished,” the great sacrifice had been made. The veil of the temple tore from top to bottom. All of the typology and pictures were no longer needed. The way into the holiest of all was open to everyone.
The new sanctuary is superior in every way. Its minister is not one of many sinful priests but the great High Priest, Jesus the Son of God, who passed into the heavens – without sin, absolutely perfect, the pure Lamb of God without blemish. The sphere of the new sanctuary is heaven itself, not made with hands – the direct creation of the infinite power of God where angels and archangels dwell and worship. Isaiah caught a glimpse of it: the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, the seraphims crying “Holy, holy, holy.” John in Revelation saw the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven opened, filled with the glory of God.
The blood offered in this heavenly sanctuary is infinitely superior to animal blood. It is the blood of the divine Son of God – not merely that of a virtuous person but of one who was both God and man. Its efficacy rested not in the fact that it was human blood, but that it was human blood of a unique kind, flowing in the veins of one sinless in humanity and deity in person. It was the only sacrificial blood the high court of heaven would accept as atonement for human sin.
This blood is superior in several distinct ways. It is the blood of the great High Priest himself – unlike the Old Testament priest who offered the blood of another, Christ offered His own. It had to be offered only once. For hundreds of years the Old Testament sacrifices continued annually, each one a temporary measure pointing to the great once-for-all sacrifice. When Christ said “It is finished,” the sin debt was paid. It purchased eternal redemption – not a temporary transaction that can be lost and regained, but an eternal one, forever and forever. It was shed for all of mankind – “not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” And it deals with the conscience, the very thing the old system could not touch. If animal blood could sanctify 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 the conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
The practical application is profound. A believer brought into God’s family through the blood of Christ can draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. The relationship has changed from exclusion to that of father and child. When children have done wrong, a good father does not say “stay away” – he says “come and talk to me about it.” If the conscience tells a believer they cannot go into God’s presence, it is not functioning rightly. The confidence is not in oneself but in Christ. God accepts believers not on the basis of their own goodness, but because they are clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
Service to God should flow from gratitude and love, not guilt – not “I must do this so God will accept me” but “I serve You because You do accept me.” The question remains whether believers will stay busy in the holy place, working for God while feeling they must remain outside His presence, or whether they will draw near by the blood of Christ into the holiest of all and serve Him from that place of acceptance and power.
Sermon Audio Id: 41226128183294