Hebrews 9:9, commentary and pictures

The earthly tabernacle with its two holy places and its gifts and sacrifices was a figure appointed for the time then present to point to the true reality it symbolized. Built by human hands according to the pattern shown to Moses, it was a copy and shadow of heavenly things, while the sanctuary established by the Lord is the original. The blood of beasts offered there could not make the worshiper perfect as pertaining to the conscience, because the life of a beast is of less value than the life of the sinning man and cannot ransom sin or satisfy the demands of God's perfect law. Those types met their antitype in the death of Jesus Christ, who is the substance and heart of all that service, and when He offered Himself the earthly sacrificial service passed away. By His own blood He entered the heavenly sanctuary and obtained eternal redemption, and He now ministers there as the great High Priest in the true sanctuary, appearing before God for us.

Figure for Its Time

The first, earthly tabernacle with its gifts and sacrifices was a figure for the time then present, an appointed time given to help people discern the true reality symbolized. It pointed to Christ but could not in itself make the worshiper's conscience perfect. The earthly sanctuary and its services were patterns and shadows of heavenly things.

That earthly sanctuary had two holy places or compartments with their furnishings. Both the tabernacle built by Moses and the temple built by Solomon served as this pattern, with the earthly apartments and furnishings representing those of the heavenly sanctuary. The sanctuary made by human hands was built according to a pattern shown to Moses. It was a copy, pattern, and shadow of heavenly things, while the heavenly sanctuary is the original established by the Lord, where Christ the great High Priest ministers and appears before God for us.

The gifts and sacrifices and blood of beasts offered there could not make the one doing the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience. The life of a beast is of less value than the life of the sinning man and therefore cannot be a ransom for sin, nor satisfy God's demands in atoning for transgression of His perfect law. The animal offerings were acceptable with God only as a figure representing the perfect Offering which they prefigured. Its services and rituals taught important truths about the heavenly sanctuary and Christ's work there for human redemption, instructing Israel about His coming work as Redeemer, Priest, and King.

Heavenly Reality and Fulfillment

The types met their antitype in the death of Jesus Christ, who instituted and established the Jewish economy and is its substance, the truth and life and heart of all its service. When Christ came and offered Himself, the earthly sacrificial service passed away. Christ entered the heavenly sanctuary by His own blood and obtained eternal redemption.

He now ministers there as the great High Priest in the true sanctuary established by the Lord, appearing before God for us, while remaining present with His church and giving it power. The earthly sanctuary and its services were patterns and shadows of these heavenly things, with priests serving in the sanctuary made by human hands made according to the pattern shown to Moses. Its rituals taught Israel about Christ's coming work as Redeemer, Priest, and King.

That heavenly ministration includes the ministration connected with the holy place, where Jesus stands by the ark and presents the saints' prayers with incense. The verse belongs to the account of the sanctuary and its two compartments, which describes the Holy Place and Most Holy Place in the heavenly temple. This sanctuary truth is present truth and a great pillar of faith.

The earthly second apartment was opened on the Day of Atonement for the cleansing of the sanctuary, and this pattern points to the opening of heaven's most holy place in 1844, when Christ entered to begin the closing work of the atonement. The tenth day of the seventh month was understood as the day when the great High Priest accomplished what the type warranted, even though the expected event had been mistaken. Believers in that understanding could still have a conscience clear before God and others, though the gifts and sacrifices of the type could not make the worshiper perfect in conscience.

The yearly service also pointed forward to the final events of the great controversy and the purification of the universe from sin and sinners. When people perverted the figures through their own inventions, they held only husks and shadows and figures symbolizing the true. The more they perverted figures and symbols the more confused they became, until their eyes were blinded and they could not see the perfect fulfillment in Christ.

Meats and drinks and divers ordinances were multiplied until ceremonial religion constituted their only worship, and they missed their fulfillment in Christ and let ceremonial religion become their worship. They crucified the originator of all their ordinances to whom all pointed. Light on the sanctuary came after earnestly seeking the Lord and was shown in vision of the heavenly sanctuary, and was endorsed in a marked manner by the Holy Spirit when preached.

A true understanding of the sanctuary question means much, and new theories that deny these Spirit-approved truths and lead away from the light on the heavenly ministration must be refused, with no man bringing such theories accepted as a teacher.