THE SANCTUARY OF THE BIBLE.
By Elder M. H. Brown
THE subject of the sanctuary is one of great importance, and is deserving of careful and prayerful study. Until recent years the religious world seemed to be entirely ignorant of this subject, except, perhaps, that which relates to the structure and history of the tabernacle which Moses built and the temple erected by Solomon. Like many important truths of the word of God, the sanctuary has been lost sight of, and its true object and significance have been overlooked or forgotten by the religious world since apostolic times. There are a few statements which we desire to make which will in a measure indicate the practical importance and scope of the subject. 1. The sanctuary and the temple in the Jewish age were the central objects of interest in the worship of God's people. Their worship centered in the sanctuary, where the priests ministered in behalf of the people of God. 2. The sanctuary and priestly service of the old dispensation are very clearly and minutely described in the Scriptures. Many have wondered why. There must be a reason, for the Bible, says that "whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." Rom. 15:4. Again we read: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Tim. 3:16, 17. 3. The Bible plainly teaches that the worldly sanctuary and its service were designed to teach the people of God concerning the temple of God in heaven, and the service of our great High Priest, who is declared to be a "minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." Heb. 8:1, 2. Hence, in proportion to our interest in the work of Christ for fallen man, will we be interested in the subject of the sanctuary, where that work is now being carried forward; and our interest in the great plan of salvation will be increased by the study of the subject. 4. The study of the sanctuary reveals the nature of the work of judgment, and the time when that solemn work begins. We therefore invite the reader to a candid examination of the scriptural evidence, which clearly proves the foregoing statements. Description of the Worldly Sanctuary.
The sanctuary built in the days of Moses is described very minutely in Exodus, chapters 25 to 40. Moses was instructed to make it exactly according to the pattern shown him in the mount. Ex. 25:9; Heb. 8:5. It was composed of two apartments, separated by a veil. The first, called the holy place, was twenty cubits long, ten cubits wide, and ten cubits high. The second apartment was called the most holy place. It was ten cubits in each of its dimensions, and hence it was just half as large as the holy place. The sides of both apartments, and the rear, or west end, were composed of boards made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. The boards were secured at the bottom by means of tenons made on the lower ends of the boards, which fitted into806sockets or bases of silver, each of which weighed a talent (Ex. 26:19-23; 38:27), while at the top, bars were placed through rings which were attached to the boards, and thus they were held securely in position. It will be noticed that the thickness of the boards is not given in the sacred record. The Jewish rabbins and many modern scholars hold that they were one cubit in thickness. This is because they assume that the two corner boards were of the same width as the rest, namely, a cubit and a half. Then the eight boards on the west end would extend twelve cubits, or one cubit on each side farther than the inside width of the sanctuary. Hence they conclude that the boards that constituted the sides of the tabernacle must have been one cubit in thickness, in order to make the outside measurement of the tabernacle twelve cubits in width. Barrows, in his "Sacred Geography and Antiquities," in commenting on the view, says: "We may well hesitate to admit such an enormous thickness. How could such an immense mass of timber, with all 'the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof,' and in addition to these the 'pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords' (Num. 4:31, 32), be transported from place to place by the help of four wagons and eight oxen, the number assigned to the sons of Merari for this service? Num. 7:8. . . . Nor is it necessary to assume such a thickness for these boards. The fact that the two corner boards are mentioned separately allows us to assume that their width was determined by the exigency of their position. Josephus says that they were four fingers thick. This would make the width of the corner boards half a cubit and four fingers." The door of the sanctuary consisted of a curtain, or veil, hung upon five pillars; and a similar curtain, called the second veil, hung upon four pillars, separated the two apartments. The top of the tabernacle was composed of curtains, which hung down over the boards on the outside. The curtains which composed the door, the second veil, and the top, were made of linen, beautifully wrought with cherubim, emblematic of the heavenly angels which surround the throne of God. Over this was spread first a curtain of goats' hair for protection, and this was called the tent of the tabernacle. Above this were placed the other curtains, one of rams' skins dyed red, and another of badgers' skins, or seals' skins, according to the best authorities. Bible scholars differ in regard to the arrangement of these curtains. Bähr, Kiel, Fairbairn, and some others assume that the innermost curtain hung down on the inside of the framework, being supported by rows of hooks attached to the tops of the boards. Fergusson, in an article in "Smith's Bible Dictionary," presents the following theory: He supposed that the central pillar of the front of the tabernacle was fifteen cubits in height, with a corresponding pillar at the rear end and one between them, and that these pillars supported a ridgepole, over which the three top curtains were placed, the linen curtain being first placed on flat and attached to the upright boards so as to hang down on the inside, thus making the walls and ceiling consist of the same material and present the same appearance. Then he has a veranda five cubits wide on each side of the tabernacle, made by the curtains being extended outward. The main argument for this arrangement is that there must have been a roof to shed rain and snow. The American Tract Society's Bible Dictionary presents the same view, practically, except that it holds that all the curtains were placed over the ridgepole, and extended outward, thus making a veranda at the sides. Another view is that the first two curtains were placed on flat over the top of the boards, falling down on the outside, as indicated in Ex. 26:13, and that the other two were hung over a ridgepole so as to shed rain and snow. In support of this view, attention is called to the fact that the length of the two upper curtains is not given, thus leaving their length to be determined by the height of the ridgepole, and where the ends were to be fastened, whether to the ground close by the side of the tabernacle, or whether they were stretched out laterally, leaving a veranda, as advocated by Fergusson. The view propounded by Barrows in his "Sacred Geography and Antiquities," and which he claims is the common view, is this, that the four curtains were simply placed on flat over the framework, extending down on the outside of the boards. We give these different views, not because they have any important bearing on the subject of the sanctuary or the practical lessons which we should learn from it, but it is thought that they may be interesting to some of our readers who are giving the subject a careful study, perhaps for the first time.