The Sanctuary

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park, Washington, D. C. · Nov 8, 1915

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 92, No. 55 Extra No. 11

A Bible Study

The Earthly Sanctuary

1. What did God, through Moses, command Israel to make? “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.” Ex. 25:8.

2. What was offered in this sanctuary? “In which were offered both gifts and sacrifices.” Heb. 9:9.

3. Besides the court, how many parts had this sanctuary? “And the veil shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy.” Ex. 26:33.

4. What was in the first apartment, or holy place? “For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the showbread; which is called the sanctuary.” Heb. 9:2. “And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation before the veil.” Ex. 40:26. See also Ex. 30:1-6.

5. What was contained in the second apartment? “And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was . . . the tables of the covenant.” Heb. 9:3, 4. See also Ex. 40:20, 21.

6. By what name was the cover of the ark known? “And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.” Ex. 25:21.

7. Where was God to meet with Israel? “And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony.” Verse 22.

8. What was in the ark, under the mercy seat? “And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments. . . . And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made.” Deut. 10:4, 5.

9. When did the priest minister in the first apartment of the sanctuary? “Now these things having been thus prepared, the priests go in continually into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the services.” Heb. 9:6, R. V.

10. Who alone went into the second apartment? how often? and for what purpose? “But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people.” Verse 7.

11. What were sinners desiring pardon instructed to do? “And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance, while he doeth somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord, . . . then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay the sin offering on the place of the burnt offering.” Lev. 4:27-29. NOTE.—According to this, if a man sinned in Israel, he violated one of the ten commandments that were in the ark under the mercy seat. These commandments are the foundation of God’s government. To violate them is to commit sin, and so become subject to death. 1 John 3:4; Rom. 6:23. But there was a mercy seat reared above these holy and just commandments. In the dispensation of his mercy, God grants the sinner the privilege of confessing his sins and of bringing a substitute to meet the demands of the law, thus obtaining mercy.

12. What was done with the blood of the offering? “And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar.” Verse 20. NOTE.—After a person discovered his sin by the law which demanded the death of the transgressor, he first brought his offering, then he confessed his sin while laying his hands on the head of the victim, thus, as a figure, transferring his sin to the victim; the victim was next slain in the court, or outer part of the sanctuary, and its blood put on the horns of the altar and poured at the foot of the altar. In some cases a portion of the offering was eaten by the priest. In this way sins were pardoned, and, in the typical service, transferred to the sanctuary.

The Day of Atonement

13. After the accumulation of the sins of the year in this way, what service took place on the tenth day of the seventh month of each year? “And this shall be a statute forever unto you; that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, . . . for on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.” Lev. 16:29, 30.

14. How was the sanctuary itself to be cleansed, and how were the sins of the people to be finally disposed of? “And he [the high priest] shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering. . . . And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat.” Verses 5-8. NOTE.—The Hebrew word for scapegoat is Azazel. See margin of verse 8. It is used as a proper name, and according to the opinion of some of the most ancient Hebrews and Christians, refers to Satan, or the angel who revolted and persisted in rebellion and sin.

15. What was done with the blood of the goat upon which the Lord’s lot fell? “Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, . . . and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat.” Verse 15.

16. Why was it necessary to make this atonement? “And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins; and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.” Verse 16. NOTE.—Sins were conveyed into the sanctuary during the year by the blood of the personal sin offerings offered daily at the door of the tabernacle. Here they remained until the day of atonement, when the high priest went into the most holy place with the blood of the goat on which the Lord’s lot fell; and bearing the accumulated sins of the year in type, before the mercy seat, he there, in type, atoned for them, and so cleansed the sanctuary.

17. After having made atonement for the people in the most holy place, what did the high priest next do?

“And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat; and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness.” Verses 20, 21. NOTE.—The offering of the Lord’s goat cleansed the sanctuary. By this offering the sins of the people, transferred there during the year, were, in type, atoned for; but they were not by this offering finally disposed of, or destroyed. The scapegoat, symbolizing Satan, the great tempter and originator of sin, was brought to the sanctuary, and upon his head were placed all these sins which Satan had tempted God’s people to commit.

18. What final disposition was made of the sins of the people? “And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited; and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.” Verse 22.

This Sanctuary Service a Type of the Work of Christ in the Heavenly Sanctuary

19. What was the earthly sanctuary and its round of service? “Which was a figure for the time then present.” Heb. 9:9. Compare Heb. 9:24.

20. Of what sanctuary, or tabernacle, is Christ the minister? “A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” Heb. 8:2.

21. Of what was the blood of all the sacrifices of the former dispensation only a type? “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.” Heb. 9:12. See Eph. 5:2. NOTE.—Through the sacrifices and offerings brought to the altar of the earthly sanctuary, the penitent believer was to lay hold of the merits of Christ, the Saviour to come. In this way, and in this way only, was there any virtue connected with them.

The Close of the Earthly Service

22. At the death of Christ, what miraculous occurrence signified that the priestly work and services of the earthly sanctuary were finished? “Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.” Matt. 27:50, 51. NOTE.—Type had met antitype; the shadow had reached the substance. Christ, the great sacrifice, had been slain, and was about to enter upon his final work as our great high priest in the sanctuary in heaven. The priestly work in the earthly sanctuary was typical of the work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary. In the earthly, the atonement was performed on the last day of the ceremonial year. All who did not then have their sins atoned for were “cut off,” and the camp was cleansed from sin. The atonement day was virtually a day of judgment for Israel, and the people whose sins had been atoned for were free from sin, and could enter upon the services of the new year clean in the sight of God. This work was kept up year-round. In the antitypical service the sacrifice is offered but once; and but one atonement, or cleansing, of the heavenly sanctuary can be made, which must take place at the time assigned of God for it. And when the great atonement, or cleansing, of the heavenly sanctuary has been made, God’s people will be forever free from sin, and the fate of all will be forever sealed. See Rev. 22:11. This, as in the type, will be a day of judgment.

The round of service in the earthly sanctuary was God’s service. It had to do with the sins of the people; not that the blood of the sacrifices offered there could in itself take away their sins, for it is expressly said that it could not. Heb. 10:4. It could, however, show their faith in the efficacy of Christ’s blood yet to be spilled, to which the sanctuary work was intended constantly to direct their minds. The work there was a type, or shadow, of Christ’s atoning work, and, as such, carries with it a significance that cannot be overestimated. Upon a correct understanding of the type depends a correct understanding of the antitype. The entire sanctuary service was an object lesson of most important and vital gospel truth—that of man’s salvation and the atonement of sin.

The Service of Christ in Heaven for Us

23. What relation does the earthly sanctuary sustain to the heavenly? “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, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.” Heb. 8:5.

24. By what comparison is it shown that the heavenly sanctuary will be cleansed? “It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.” Heb. 9:23.

25. When Christ has finished his priestly mediatorial work in the heavenly sanctuary, what decree will go forth? “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” Rev. 22:11.

26. What event is directly connected with the blotting out of sin and the final refreshing from God’s presence? “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” Acts 3:19-21.

27. According to the view of the judgment presented to Daniel, what is to be given to Christ while still before the Father? “I saw . . . and, behold, one like the Son of man came . . . to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him.” Dan. 7:13, 14.

28. What will occur when the Lord descends from heaven? “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4:16, 17.

29. What statement immediately following the announcement mentioned in Rev. 22:11, indicates that a judgment work had been in progress before Christ comes?

“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Rev. 22:12. NOTE.—The typical sanctuary service is fully met in the work of Christ. As the atonement day of the former dispensation was really a day of judgment, so the atonement work of Christ will include the investigation of the cases of his people prior to his coming to receive them unto himself.

30. Is there a specified time for the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary? “And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Dan. 8:14.

31. How may one know that this does not refer to the earthly sanctuary? “He said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.” Verse 17. NOTE.—The prophetic period of 2300 days (years) extends to A. D. 1844, while the divinely appointed services of the earthly sanctuary ceased at the cross (Dan. 9:27; Matt. 27:50, 51), and the sanctuary itself was destroyed in A. D. 70, when Titus captured Jerusalem.