It has been supposed that the earth, or a portion of it, was the Sanctuary of Dan. viii. This is an error that has stood in the way of the reception of the "present truth," and out of which has grown the recent fanaticisms on the definite time of the Second Advent. The definition of the word sanctuary, is a "sacred place," a "dwelling place of the Most High." This earth, or any portion of it, has not been such a place since man left Eden 6000 years since.
As the typical sanctuary of the Jews was the center of their religious system, so the "greater and more perfect Tabernacle" above, of which Jesus Christ is a High Priest, forms the center of all gospel truth. There is God the Father, there is Jesus Christ, a merciful High Priest, and there is the mercy seat, the ark, the law of God, [Rev. xi, 19,] and the holy angels. We are indeed, introducing a glorious theme. It would be far better for the spiritual interests of the people of God if they would more constantly look upward, and by faith view the glories of the heavenly Sanctuary. We recommend the reading of the book of Hebrews as an excellent commentary on this subject. We invite the especial attention of the reader to those works where a scriptural view of the Sanctuary to be cleansed at the termination of the 2300 days, is given, with the nature of its cleansing.
Events immediately preceding the second coming of Christ are mentioned in Dan. viii, yet that event is not brought to view in that chapter. It is true that it is said in verse 25, when speaking of the little horn, "he shall be broken without hand;" but the wrath of God in the seven last plagues will, at least, commence to break earthly governments, prior to the Second Advent. Read their dreadful description in Rev. xvi. After the sixth vial is poured out it is said, "Behold, I come as a thief;" his coming is then still future.
The event to transpire at the end of the 2300 days, is the cleansing of the Sanctuary. That the tabernacle of God is the Sanctuary of the Bible, a multitude of texts directly testify. Ex. xxxvi, 1-6; Lev. iv, 6; xvi, 33; Num. iv, 15; Ps. lxxviii, 54, 69; Heb. viii, 1, 2. That the cleansing of the Sanctuary is the work of a high priest, performed by blood, and not with fire, is also a matter of certainty. Lev. xvi; Heb. ix. The work of cleansing the Sanctuary is not that of a king taking vengeance on his adversaries, but that of a priest concluding his work in the tabernacle of God. Hence, this work must precede the Second Advent, and be accomplished ere the priestly work of our Lord is closed in the Sanctuary of God. Until that point of time, the wrath of God is stayed by the intercession of our great High Priest. When that point is reached, the sins of the host or church, having been transferred from the Sanctuary to the anti-typical scape-goat, and the saints of God being all sealed, the wrath of God without mixture of mercy is poured out, and the adversaries of the Lord are destroyed with an utter destruction. The period of time in which the Sanctuary is being cleansed, we understand to be what the angel denominates "the last end of the indignation." Dan. viii, 19. That it occupies a space of time is evident from the form of expression used by Gabriel: "I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation."