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The Beginning of the End
regarded as forever separated from the people. This service was
performed as a “copy and shadow of the heavenly things” (
Hebrews
8:5
).
The True Heavenly Sanctuary
The earthly sanctuary was “symbolic for the present time in
which both gifts and sacrifices are offered”; its two holy places were
“copies of the things in the heavens.” Christ, our great High Priest,
is “a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the
Lord erected, and not man” (
Hebrews 9:9, 23
;
8:2
).
The apostle John was given a view of the temple of God in
heaven. He saw there “seven lamps of fire” that “were burning
before the throne.” He saw an angel “having a golden censer ... .
He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers
of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne”
(
Revelation 4:5
;
8:3
). Here the prophet was permitted to look into
the first apartment of the sanctuary in heaven. Again, “the temple of
God was opened in heaven,” and within the inner veil he looked on
the holy of holies. Here he saw “the ark of His covenant” (
Revelation
11:19
), represented by the sacred chest that Moses constructed to
contain the law of God.
Paul declares that “the tabernacle and all the vessels of the min-
istry,” when completed, were “the copies of things in the heavens”
(
Hebrews 9:21, 23
). And John says that he saw the sanctuary in
heaven. That sanctuary, in which Jesus ministers in our behalf, is
the great original. The sanctuary Moses built was a copy.
The earthly sanctuary and its services were to teach important
lessons concerning the heavenly sanctuary and the work done there
for saving human beings.
After His ascension, our Savior was to begin His work as our
High Priest. “Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands,
which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear
in the presence of God for us” (
Hebrews 9:24
). Christ’s priestly
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ministry was to consist of two great divisions, each occupying a pe-
riod of time and having a distinctive place in the heavenly sanctuary.
So the symbolic, earthly ministry consisted of two divisions—the