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The Great Controversy
was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called
the sanctuary. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called
the holiest of all; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the
covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot
that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the
covenant; and over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy
seat.”
Hebrews 9:1-5
.
The sanctuary to which Paul here refers was the tabernacle built by
Moses at the command of God as the earthly dwelling place of the Most
High. “Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them”
(
Exodus 25:8
), was the direction given to Moses while in the mount
with God. The Israelites were journeying through the wilderness, and
[412]
the tabernacle was so constructed that it could be removed from place
to place; yet it was a structure of great magnificence. Its walls consisted
of upright boards heavily plated with gold and set in sockets of silver,
while the roof was formed of a series of curtains, or coverings, the outer
of skins, the innermost of fine linen beautifully wrought with figures of
cherubim. Besides the outer court, which contained the altar of burnt
offering, the tabernacle itself consisted of two apartments called the
holy and the most holy place, separated by a rich and beautiful curtain,
or veil; a similar veil closed the entrance to the first apartment.
In the holy place was the candlestick, on the south, with its seven
lamps giving light to the sanctuary both by day and by night; on the
north stood the table of shewbread; and before the veil separating the
holy from the most holy was the golden altar of incense, from which
the cloud of fragrance, with the prayers of Israel, was daily ascending
before God.
In the most holy place stood the ark, a chest of precious wood
overlaid with gold, the depository of the two tables of stone upon
which God had inscribed the law of Ten Commandments. Above the
ark, and forming the cover to the sacred chest, was the mercy seat, a
magnificent piece of workmanship, surmounted by two cherubim, one
at each end, and all wrought of solid gold. In this apartment the divine
presence was manifested in the cloud of glory between the cherubim.
After the settlement of the Hebrews in Canaan, the tabernacle
was replaced by the temple of Solomon, which, though a permanent
structure and upon a larger scale, observed the same proportions, and
was similarly furnished. In this form the sanctuary existed—except