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The Great Controversy
wisdom. The walls had the appearance of massive gold, reflecting in
every direction the light of the seven lamps of the golden candlestick.
The table of shewbread and the altar of incense glittered like burnished
gold. The gorgeous curtain which formed the ceiling, inwrought with
figures of angels in blue and purple and scarlet, added to the beauty
of the scene. And beyond the second veil was the holy Shekinah, the
visible manifestation of God’s glory, before which none but the high
priest could enter and live.
The matchless splendor of the earthly tabernacle reflected to human
vision the glories of that heavenly temple where Christ our forerunner
ministers for us before the throne of God. The abiding place of the
King of kings, where thousand thousands minister unto Him, and ten
thousand times ten thousand stand 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, could find, in the
most magnificent structure ever reared by human hands, but a faint
reflection of its vastness and glory. Yet important truths concerning the
heavenly sanctuary and the great work there carried forward for man’s
redemption were taught by the earthly sanctuary and its services.
The holy places of the sanctuary in heaven are represented by the
two apartments in the sanctuary on earth. 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.”
Revelation 4:5
. He
saw an angel “having a golden censer; and there was given unto him
much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon
the golden altar which was before the throne.”
Revelation 8:3
. Here the
prophet was permitted to behold the first apartment of the sanctuary
[415]
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,” represented by
the sacred chest constructed by Moses to contain the law of God.
Thus those who were studying the subject found indisputable proof
of the existence of a sanctuary in heaven. Moses made the earthly
sanctuary after a pattern which was shown him. Paul teaches that that
pattern was the true sanctuary which is in heaven. And John testifies
that he saw it in heaven.