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Open Mystery of the Sanctuary
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that he gave his only begotten Son.”
John 16:27
;
2 Corinthians 5:19
;
John 3:16
.
The Sanctuary Mystery Solved
The “true tabernacle” in heaven is the sanctuary of the new
covenant. At the death of Christ the typical service ended. As
Daniel 8:14
is fulfilled in this dispensation, the sanctuary to which it
refers must be the sanctuary of the new covenant. Thus the prophecy,
[257]
“Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary
be cleansed,” points to the sanctuary in heaven.
But what is the cleansing of the sanctuary? Can there be anything
in heaven to be cleansed? In
Hebrews 9
the cleansing of both the
earthly and the heavenly sanctuary is plainly taught: “Almost all
things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of
blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns
of things in the heavens should be purified with these [the blood of
animals]; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices
than these” (
Hebrews 9:22, 23
), even the precious blood of Christ.
The Cleansing of the Sanctuary
The cleansing in the real service must be accomplished with
the blood of Christ. “Without shedding of blood is no remission.”
Remission, or putting away of sin, is the work to be accomplished.
But how could there be sin connected with the sanctuary in
heaven? This may be learned by reference to the symbolic service,
for the priests on earth served “unto the example and shadow of
heavenly things.”
Hebrews 8:5
.
The ministry of the earthly sanctuary consisted of two divisions.
The priests ministered daily in the holy place, while once a year
the high priest performed a special work of atonement in the most
holy, for the cleansing of the sanctuary. Day by day the repentant
sinner brought his offering and, placing his hand upon the victim’s
head, confessed his sins, in figure transferring them from himself
to the innocent sacrifice. The animal was then slain. “The life of
the flesh is in the blood.”
Leviticus 17:11
. The broken law of God
demanded the life of the transgressor. The blood, representing the