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THE SANCTUARY

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The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 11, 1876

FromThe Review and Herald, Review and Herald, Vol. 47, No. 19.

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THE SANCTUARY.

By Uriah Smith

Nineteenth Paper.—The Temple.

The intimate connection of the temple with its prototype, the tabernacle, is shown in the general arrangement and furniture of the building. Like the tabernacle it had its holy, and most holy, place. But these in all their dimensions, length, breadth, and height, were exactly double those of the tabernacle. Thus the most holy place was 20 cubits each way, instead of 10, and the holy place 20 by 40 cubits, instead of 10 by 20.
Besides these apartments there was a porch of 10 cubits at the entrance, and surrounding chambers for the use of the priests, besides various courts and covered porches surrounding the whole. Altogether it covered a large area, and presented an imposing and magnificent appearance. Rising from its commanding height like a mountain of marble and gold, it stood before the world a monument of splendor more gorgeous and wonderful than men had ever looked upon before. The carving of the walls of the house with figures of cherubim; the overlaying of it with pure gold within and without; the doors of olive trees adorned with carved work, and overlaid with gold fitted to the carvings with other innumerable and costly ornaments and embellishments, were accomplished at an expense, says Dr. Clarke, which it is impossible to estimate.
Two gigantic cherubim, of olive wood overlaid with gold, each 10 cubits high, were prepared for the most holy place, and put in position on either side of the spot upon which the ark was to rest. “And they stretched forth the wings of the cherubim, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall, and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house.”
Many of the vessels of the sanctuary were also enlarged and multiplied for the temple service. Ten golden candlesticks shed their light in the holy place, and ten tables held the consecrated bread which was placed each Sabbath before the Lord. 2 Chron. 4:7, 8.
At the expiration of seven years and six months from the commencement of the work, the building was completed, though the dedication did not take place till the following year, the twelfth of Solomon’s reign. Having all things prepared for this joyful occasion, Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord, out of the city of David, to its new abode. 1 Kings 8. And King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be told nor numbered for multitude. What a procession was that!
They also brought up the tabernacle. The original tabernacle was left at Gibeon thirty-eight years before; and it is generally supposed that David had erected a new one for the ark when he brought it to his city. Which of these was brought into the temple? Some think, both; but Dr. Clarke suggests what seems the more probable view that the original tabernacle was brought up from Gibeon, to be preserved in the temple as a relic, and the temporary one erected by David was destroyed.
What was in the ark? 1 Kings 8:9, states explicitly that there was nothing there save the tables of stone. Paul is supposed to say in Heb. 9:4, that it contained also the golden pot of manna and Aaron’s rod. That these were originally laid up before the testimony is evident from Ex. 16:33, 34; Num. 17:10, but we find no record that they were put into the ark with the tables of the law. Paul, in Heb. 9:3, speaks of the tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all; and the word wherein, in verse 4, is simply the relative pronoun, “in which,” which may refer to the tabernacle as its antecedent, instead of the ark. With this view Paul’s language would simply affirm that in the most holy, or second apartment, were placed the golden censer, the pot of manna, Aaron’s rod, the ark, and the tables of the covenant; the tables, though contained in the ark, being mentioned separately from the ark by way of emphasis.
The passage from Hebrews then becomes similar to that in 1 Kings 8:21, which reads, “And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.” In this passage, the word, wherein, refers, as in Hebrews, to the place, not to the ark. In the ark was God’s covenant which he commanded, the ten commandments, but not the covenant which he made with the children of Israel, which was a mutual agreement between himself and them. This was written in a book, and placed in the side of the ark. Deut. 31:26.
And this leads us to consider what is meant by this expression, “In the side of the ark.” Prideaux has explained it so fully in his “Connection,” Vol. i. p. 152, that we can do no better than to give his words: “As to the book, or volume of the law, it beingcommanded to be put mittzad i. e. on the side of the ark, those who interpret that word of the inside, place it within the ark, and those who interpret it of the outside, place it on the outside of it in a case or coffer made on purpose for it, and laid on the right side; meaning by the right side, that end of it which was on the right hand. And the last seem to be in the right as to this matter; for, first, The same word, mittzad, is made use of, where it is said, that the Philistines sent back the ark with an offering of jewels of gold put in a coffer by the side of it. And there it is certain that word must be understood of the outside, and not of the inside. Secondly, the ark was not of capacity enough to hold the volume of the whole law of Moses, with the other things placed therein. Thirdly, The end of laying up the original volume of the law in the temple was, that it might be reserved there as the authentic copy, by which all others were to be corrected and set right; and, therefore, to answer this end, it must have been placed so as that access might be had thereto on all occasions requiring it; which could not have been done, if it had been put within the ark, and shut up there by the cover of the mercy-seat over it, which was not to be removed. And, fourthly, When Hilkiah, the high-priest, in the time of Josiah, found the copy of the law in the temple, there is nothing said of the ark; neither is it there spoken of, as taken from thence, but as found elsewhere in the temple. And, therefore, putting all this together, it seems plain that the volume of the law was not laid within the ark, but had a particular coffer or repository of its own, in which it was placed on the side of it. And the word mittzad, which answers to the Latin a latere, cannot truly bear any other meaning in the Hebrew language. And therefore the Chaldee paraphrase, which goes under the name of Jonathan Ben Uziel, in paraphrasing on these words of Deuteronomy—“Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant,” renders it thus, “Take the book of the law, and place it in a case or coffer, on the right side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God.”
The ark was brought into its position in the most holy place between the wings of the cherubim, and thus again became connected with the sanctuary after a separation of 136 years. God approved of all that had been done, to suitably prepare for his worship as adapted to that time, and as he had taken possession of the first tabernacle, Ex. 40:34, so now he takes possession of this: “And it came to pass when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.” 1 Kings 8:10, 11.
That was a day of joy in Israel. The thousands of offerings consuming upon the altars, the clouds of incense that rose above the temple, the sounds of the instruments of music, and the voice of the singers, the inimitable prayer of Solomon, the wisest of men, the glory of the new temple, the vast concourse of people, and above all, the crowning visitation of the shekinah, or visible glory of God, as he took possession of his dwelling, all conspired to render this

THE MOST IMPOSING RELIGIOUS SERVICE EVER PERFORMED IN THIS WORLD, EITHER BEFORE OR SINCE THAT TIME.

Twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep, constituted Solomon’s peace offering. Besides this there were his meat offerings, his burnt offerings, and his drink-offerings, besides the offerings of the assembled multitudes. Fourteen days the King and all Israel kept a feast unto the Lord, and then the people returned to their homes, blessing the King, and glad of heart for all the goodness of the Lord.
During Israel’s sojourn in the wilderness, the tabernacle, as we have seen, was fifty-six times called the sanctuary. From its entrance into the holy land, till its incorporation into the temple, it is nineteen times more called the sanctuary in the following passages:— Josh. 24:26; 1 Chron. 9:29; 22:19; 24:5; 28:10; 2 Chron. 20:8; Ps. 20:2; 28:2, margin; 29:2, margin; 63:2; 68:24; 73:17; 77:13; 78:54, 69; 96:6, 9, margin; 134:2; 150:1.
U. S.