Chapter 64—Christ Our Great High Priest
The correct understanding of the ministration in the heavenly sanc-
tuary is the foundation of our faith
The earthly sanctuary was built by Moses according to the pattern
shown him in the mount. It was “a figure for the time then present, in
which were offered both gifts and sacrifices;” its two holy places were
“patterns of things in the heavens;” Christ, our great High Priest, is “a
minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord
pitched, and not man.”
Hebrews 9:9, 23
;
8:2
. As in vision the apostle
John was granted a view of the temple of God in heaven, he beheld
there “seven lamps of fire burning before the throne.”
Here the prophet was permitted to behold the first apartment of the
sanctuary in heaven; and he saw there the “seven lamps of fire” and
the “golden altar” represented by the golden candlestick and the altar
of incense in the sanctuary on earth. Again, “the temple of God was
opened,”
Revelation 11:19
, and he looked within the inner veil, upon
the holy of holies. Here he beheld “the ark of His testament,”
Revela-
tion 11:19
, represented by the sacred chest constructed by Moses to
contain the law of God.
John says that he saw the sanctuary in heaven. That sanctuary, in
which Jesus ministers in our behalf, is the great original, of which the
sanctuary built by Moses was a copy.
The heavenly temple, the abiding place of the King of kings, where
“thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten
thousand stood before Him,”
Daniel 7:10
, that temple filled with the
glory of the eternal throne, where seraphim, its shining guardians,
veil their faces in adoration—no earthly structure could represent its
vastness and its glory. Yet important truths concerning the heavenly
sanctuary and the great work there carried forward for man’s redemp-
tion were to be taught by the earthly sanctuary and its services.
After His ascension, our Saviour was to begin His work as our
High Priest. Says Paul, “Christ is not entered into the holy places made
619
Evangelism, 221
448