Hebrews 9:6
Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.
The verse describes the priests continually entering the first tabernacle to perform the daily service of God, distinct from entering the most holy place only once a year. That earthly sanctuary with its daily and yearly services was an example, shadow and pattern of heavenly things that explains Jesus' ministry in both apartments of the heavenly sanctuary. Jesus stands continually as minister of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, officiating in the presence of God by His own shed blood and presenting the prayers of the saints with incense before the mercy-seat. At His death the temple veil was torn and the earthly sacrificial service ended because His sacrifice fulfilled the type and opened the way into the holiest, so repeated earthly sacrifices no longer have virtue. After He entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary the third angel directs disappointed believers there by faith, and since His ministry there was nearly finished only a short time remained for sins to be blotted out and God's people to be sealed before He leaves with no priest left to present further prayers.
Earthly Service Described
The verse describes the priests going always, regularly and continually, into the first tabernacle to accomplish the daily service of God, a work distinct from entering the most holy place only once a year. That continual ministry belonged to the first apartment, while the second apartment was entered only on the one appointed day for ministry in the most holy place. The daily round in the first apartment and the annual cleansing connected with the second together made up the divided ministry of the sanctuary.
The first tabernacle in which this daily service was performed included the court and the holy place. The holy place contained the incense altar, the lampstand, and the table of showbread, followed by a second veil into the Holy of Holies where the ark stands. The service centered on the ark containing the law of God, the cover of the ark which is the mercy-seat, and the angels at either end of the ark. Other things connected with the heavenly sanctuary and the great day of atonement belong to the mysteries of heaven.
The daily service included burning incense mingled with the worshipers' prayers and offering animal sacrifices whose blood pointed to Christ's blood. By contrast, the second apartment was sacred to God's presence behind the veil inwrought with cherubim that no hand save one might lift. To intrude unbidden into the sacred mystery of the most holy place was death, for above the mercy-seat and the bowed, worshiping angels dwelt the glory of the Holiest upon which no man might look and live. Only on the one day of the year appointed for ministry in the most holy place did the high priest with trembling enter God's presence while clouds of incense veiled the glory from his sight, and throughout the courts of the temple every sound was hushed, no priests ministered at the altars, and the hosts of worshipers bowed in silent awe sent up their petitions for God's mercy.
Heavenly Ministry Revealed
The daily entrance of the priests into the first apartment to accomplish its continual service, set apart from the high priest's once-a-year entrance into the most holy to cleanse it from sins brought there, was one division of a sanctuary and ministry given as an example, shadow, and pattern of heavenly things. The sanctuary itself with its court and holy place, and the ministry divided into daily service in the first tabernacle and yearly service in the most holy, explain by their details the ministry of Jesus in both apartments of the heavenly sanctuary. The earthly priests who performed that first-apartment service died and could not continue indefinitely, but Jesus entered the heavenly sanctuary through the offering of His own blood and remains a priest forever.
As the priest prayed toward the unseen mercy-seat, so God's people are to direct their prayers by faith to Christ, their Mediator before the mercy-seat in the heavenly sanctuary, trusting though unseen by natural sight that He is there and claiming the benefits of His mediation. He continually stands at the altar as minister of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man, officiating in the presence of God and offering up His shed blood as a lamb slain. There by the ark He presents the oblation for every offense and every shortcoming of the sinner, and presents the saints' prayers to the Father with incense. The unceasing round of that typical daily service together with the yearly service points to the constant commission of sin and the continued need for mediation, and Israel's sacrifices and offerings enabled the people to lay hold of the merits of the coming Savior.
At Christ's death the temple veil was torn and the earthly sanctuary's sacrificial service reached its end, for the lamb then being offered represented Christ whose sacrifice fulfilled the type. The way into the holiest was thereby opened and Christ became priest and advocate in heaven, so there is no longer need to wait for an earthly high priest or to rely on repeated sacrifices for sin, and the daily typical shadow possesses no virtue after the cross. Those priestly services and symbols, including burning incense mingled with the worshipers' prayers and animal sacrifices whose blood pointed to Christ's blood, continued for ages but came to an end when Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed.
Prophetic Guidance and Urgency
The regular service of the priests in the first compartment provides the setting for understanding the change in Jesus' ministry, for after He enters the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary the third angel directs the disappointed believers there by faith. There they find Jesus and gain renewed hope and joy, and looking back to 1844 they understand their disappointment and see that God has led them. Jesus now ministers in the heavenly sanctuary, receiving prayers, confessions, and sacrifices. Before He leaves, sins are blotted out and God's people are sealed, but after He leaves the sanctuary there is no priest to present further prayers or confessions, so the work of rescuing souls must be done beforehand.
This priestly service stands in the context that Jesus' ministry in the most holy place was nearly finished and only a short time remained for the sealing work. The continual priestly service in the first apartment, distinct from the second apartment sacred to His presence behind the veil inwrought with cherubim where unbidden intrusion was death, happened by way of example and was written for admonition upon those on whom the ends of the ages are come. Above the mercy-seat and the bowed, worshiping angels dwelt the glory of the Holiest upon which no man might look and live, and only on the one appointed day of the year did the high priest with trembling enter veiled by clouds of incense while every sound in the courts was hushed and worshipers bowed in silent awe sending up petitions for mercy.
The ministration connected with the holy place belongs to the sanctuary question, which is present truth and a great pillar of faith. It has been endorsed over and over in a marked manner by the Holy Spirit, and light on it came when the Lord was earnestly sought, with so solemn a view of the heavenly sanctuary and its holy-place ministration that it could not be spoken of for many days. A true understanding of it means much to God's people, and theories that deny these approved truths or lead away from this light are not truth, and those who present them should not be accepted as teachers.