The courtyard
A wall of white, and one way in
"Moses was shown something that already existed. Then he was told to make a model of it."
The book, the chapter on the sanctuary · Exodus 25:40The courtyard was a hundred cubits long and fifty wide. A cubit is a forearm, about half a metre, so picture a fenced yard about half the length of a rugby field, and half as wide as it is long. It ran east to west, and it had only one entrance, on the east end. Inside, standing well above the fence, was the tent itself.
"The length of the court shall be an hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass."Exodus 27:18
"And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits."Exodus 27:13
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"And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them."Exodus 25:8
"According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it."Exodus 25:9
"And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount."Exodus 25:40
"For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect."Hebrews 10:1
"Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ."Colossians 2:17
"And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of an hundred cubits long for one side:"Exodus 27:9
"And likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings of an hundred cubits long, and his twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver."Exodus 27:11
"And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits: their pillars ten, and their sockets ten."Exodus 27:12
"Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father’s house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch."Numbers 2:2
Taller than a man
Scripture uses fine linen for righteousness, and the wall round God's dwelling was made of it. You could not see past it from outside.
Revelation 19:8Five cubits is more than two metres. Standing outside, you saw linen, and above it the top of the tent, and nothing else. Whatever happened in there, you could not watch it from a distance. You had to come in to see it.
"All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver; their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of brass."Exodus 27:17
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"And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints."Revelation 19:8
"All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof, and all the pins thereof, and all the pins of the court, shall be of brass."Exodus 27:19
"Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the breadth of one board."Exodus 26:16
"My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God."Psalm 84:2
"For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness."Psalm 84:10
The one opening
Christ, the only way in. There was one gate, and it was wide enough for whoever came.
John 10:9 · John 14:6On the east end, twenty cubits of the fence were not white. They were a hanging worked in blue, purple and scarlet on linen, hung on four pillars. There was no other door, and no back way round.
"And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four."Exodus 27:16
"I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture."John 10:9
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"And the hanging for the gate of the court was needlework, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: and twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, answerable to the hangings of the court."Exodus 38:18
"Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep."John 10:7
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."John 14:6
"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name."Psalm 100:4
You came in through one gate, into the courtyard.
The Case for Christian Prophecy, the chapter on the sanctuary
Everything on one line
The whole walk runs one way, from the gate toward the mercy seat at the far end. The book calls it "a walk toward mercy".
The book, the chapter on the sanctuaryStep through and look west. The altar is straight in front of you. Behind it, the laver. Behind that, the door of the tent, and the tent standing tall over everything. Nothing is off to the side. Each thing you meet is between you and the next.
"And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work."Exodus 40:33
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"But those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, even before the tabernacle of the congregation eastward, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death."Numbers 3:38
"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,"Hebrews 10:19
"By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;"Hebrews 10:20
The first thing you met
The altar, "where a lamb was killed and a life was given in your place. That is the cross."
The book, the chapter on the sanctuary · John 1:29Straight ahead of the gate stood the altar. Five cubits square and three high, which is about chest height. Acacia wood covered in brass, a horn at each corner, a fire on top that was kept burning day and night. It stood in the open, between you and everything further in. Nobody walked past it to get to the rest.
"And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits."Exodus 27:1
"The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."John 1:29
In heaven John saw "a Lamb as it had been slain", and an altar.
"And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth."Revelation 5:6
"And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:"Revelation 6:9
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"And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass."Exodus 27:2
"And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basons, and his fleshhooks, and his firepans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass."Exodus 27:3
"And thou shalt make for it a grate of network of brass; and upon the net shalt thou make four brasen rings in the four corners thereof."Exodus 27:4
"And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar."Exodus 27:5
"Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually."Exodus 29:38
"The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even:"Exodus 29:39
"And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him."Leviticus 1:4
"The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out."Leviticus 6:13
"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth."Isaiah 53:7
"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission."Hebrews 9:22
"We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle."Hebrews 13:10
"Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate."Hebrews 13:12
"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;"1 Peter 1:18
"But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:"1 Peter 1:19
One rule ran through the whole system. No priest ever entered carrying nothing. "Not without blood" (Hebrews 9:7). The high priest could not step behind the veil unless he had the blood of a sacrifice in his hand. There had to be a death first, out in the courtyard, before there could be any ministry inside.
This is why Christ could do none of His priestly work until He had died. He had to be the sacrifice in the courtyard before He could be the priest inside. He needed blood to bring, and the blood He brings is His own. He could not begin in heaven until Calvary was finished on earth.
The Case for Christian Prophecy, the chapter on the sanctuary
Water, between the altar and the door
"The washing at the basin is the new birth, and the new birth is His mercy and not my scrubbing."
The book, the chapter on the sanctuary · Titus 3:5Past the altar stood a great basin of brass full of water. The priests washed their hands and feet there every time they went into the tent. The brass was made from the women's mirrors, so it was polished bright enough to see yourself in.
"Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein."Exodus 30:18
"And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation."Exodus 38:8
Before the throne John saw a sea of glass. Scripture does not join it to the laver in so many words, but in Solomon's temple the great basin the priests washed in was called the sea, and many readers put the two side by side.
"And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind."Revelation 4:6
"He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them: such things as they offered for the burnt offering they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in."2 Chronicles 4:6
Go deeper
"For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat:"Exodus 30:19
"When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD:"Exodus 30:20
"So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations."Exodus 30:21
"And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and put water there, to wash withal."Exodus 40:30
"And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat:"Exodus 40:31
"When they went into the tent of the congregation, and when they came near unto the altar, they washed; as the LORD commanded Moses."Exodus 40:32
"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;"Titus 3:5
"That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,"Ephesians 5:26
"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."Hebrews 10:22
You came in through one gate, into the courtyard. The first thing you met was the altar, where a lamb was killed and a life was given in your place. That is the cross. Past it stood the laver, a great basin of water, and it was the priest who washed there before he went inside. God said so twice over. "For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat" (Exodus 30:19), and "they shall wash with water, that they die not" (Exodus 30:20). Washing means the new birth, and a verse says it in those words: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus 3:5). Not by works of righteousness which we have done. The washing at the basin is the new birth, and the new birth is His mercy and not my scrubbing.
The Case for Christian Prophecy, the chapter on the sanctuary
Where the courtyard ends
The priest's work, which is what the rest of the tent is about. "Christ has an office, and it had never once crossed my mind to ask what He does in it. What He does in it is the point."
The book, the chapter on the sanctuary · Hebrews 8:1-2Behind the laver hung another curtain in the same three colours, on five pillars covered in gold, and it was closed. From the courtyard you saw only the outside of the tent, which was dark skins. Past this point only the priests went. The courtyard was for everyone who came in at the gate. The tent was not.
"And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework."Exodus 26:36
John was shown a door opened in heaven, and called up through it.
"After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter."Revelation 4:1
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"And thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold: and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them."Exodus 26:37
"And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering above of badgers’ skins."Exodus 26:14
"And thou shalt make curtains of goats’ hair to be a covering upon the tabernacle: eleven curtains shalt thou make."Exodus 26:7
"And thou shalt set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation."Exodus 40:6
"And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and shalt put water therein."Exodus 40:7
"Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;"Hebrews 8:1
"A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man."Hebrews 8:2
Inside the tent
Two rooms, dark outside and gold inside
"He died as the sacrifice, He carries my name in the first room, and He clears my record in the second."
The book, the chapter on the sanctuary · Hebrews 9:6-7Lift the coverings off and the tent is two rooms. The first is the Holy Place, with three pieces of furniture in it. The second, behind a heavy curtain, is the Most Holy, with one. Outside, the tent was dark skins. Inside, the walls were boards covered in gold, and the ceiling was linen in blue, purple and scarlet, worked with cherubim.
"And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy."Exodus 26:33
John saw the tent itself in heaven: the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony, opened.
"And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:"Revelation 15:5
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"Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them."Exodus 26:1
"And thou shalt overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold for places for the bars: and thou shalt overlay the bars with gold."Exodus 26:29
"And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards on the south side southward."Exodus 26:18
"For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary."Hebrews 9:2
"And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;"Hebrews 9:3
"Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God."Hebrews 9:6
"But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:"Hebrews 9:7
The first room
The daily work of our Priest for us, who "ever liveth to make intercession".
Hebrews 7:25 · Hebrews 9:6This is as far as an ordinary priest went, every day. Facing west, the lampstand stood on your left, the south side, and the table of bread on your right, the north side. Straight ahead, against the veil, stood the small altar of incense. The light in the room was the lampstand, and it was to burn always.
"And thou shalt set the table without the vail, and the candlestick over against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south: and thou shalt put the table on the north side."Exodus 26:35
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"Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God."Hebrews 9:6
"Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."Hebrews 7:25
"Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually."Leviticus 24:2
Beyond the laver, into the tent itself, only the priest went. In the first room, the Holy Place, three things stood. A lampstand, always burning, which is the light to see by, spiritually. A table of bread, which is His life and your daily food. It is His word as well, for Christ is "the Word" (John 1:1), and we do not live "by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). And the smoke rose from a small altar of incense, which is prayer going up to God.
The Case for Christian Prophecy, the chapter on the sanctuary
Seven lamps, always burning
"A lampstand, always burning, which is the light to see by, spiritually."
The book, the chapter on the sanctuary · John 8:12 · Psalm 119:105A central shaft and six branches, three out of each side, seven lamps in all, beaten out of one piece of pure gold. Every branch was worked with cups shaped like almond blossoms. It burned pure olive oil, and the priest tended it every evening and every morning.
"And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it."Exodus 25:37
John saw seven golden candlesticks with one like the Son of man in the midst of them, clothed down to the foot and girt with a golden girdle, and seven lamps of fire burning before the throne.
"And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;"Revelation 1:12
"And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle."Revelation 1:13
"And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God."Revelation 4:5
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"And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same."Exodus 25:31
"And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side:"Exodus 25:32
"Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick."Exodus 25:33
"Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold."Exodus 25:36
"Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels."Exodus 25:39
"And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always."Exodus 27:20
"Without the vail of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron order it from the evening unto the morning before the LORD continually: it shall be a statute for ever in your generations."Leviticus 24:3
"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."John 8:12
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."Psalm 119:105
"The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches."Revelation 1:20
Bread before God, always
"A table of bread, which is His life and your daily food. It is His word as well".
The book, the chapter on the sanctuary · John 6:35 · Matthew 4:4Two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high, covered in gold with a crown round the edge. On it lay twelve loaves in two rows of six, set out fresh every sabbath, so the table was never empty.
"And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway."Exodus 25:30
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"Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof."Exodus 25:23
"And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about."Exodus 25:24
"And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them."Exodus 25:28
"And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers thereof, and bowls thereof, to cover withal: of pure gold shalt thou make them."Exodus 25:29
"And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake."Leviticus 24:5
"And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD."Leviticus 24:6
"Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant."Leviticus 24:8
"And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."John 6:35
"But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."Matthew 4:4
Smoke going up, morning and evening
The smoke "rose from a small altar of incense, which is prayer going up to God."
The book, the chapter on the sanctuary · Psalm 141:2 · Revelation 8:3-4A small altar, a cubit square and two cubits high, covered in gold, with horns like the great altar outside. It stood right against the veil, as close to the ark as anything in the first room. Incense burned on it every morning and every evening.
"And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee."Exodus 30:6
John saw the golden altar before the throne, and the incense going up with the prayers of the saints.
"And another angel came and stood at the altar, 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
"And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand."Revelation 8:4
Go deeper
"And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it."Exodus 30:1
"A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same."Exodus 30:2
"And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about."Exodus 30:3
"And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal."Exodus 30:4
"And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it."Exodus 30:7
"And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations."Exodus 30:8
"And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD."Exodus 30:10
"Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice."Psalm 141:2
The second curtain
Christ's own body, given. When He died, the veil of the temple was "torn from top to bottom, as if by a hand from above."
The book, the chapter on the sanctuary · Hebrews 10:20 · Matthew 27:51A heavy curtain of blue, purple and scarlet on fine linen, with cherubim worked into it, hung on four pillars of gold set in sockets of silver. It closed off the last room completely. Behind it the high priest went in alone, once a year, and never without blood.
"And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made:"Exodus 26:31
Go deeper
"And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver."Exodus 26:32
"And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat."Leviticus 16:2
"But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:"Hebrews 9:7
"And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;"Matthew 27:51
"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,"Hebrews 10:19
"By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;"Hebrews 10:20
"Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;"Hebrews 6:19
It does not settle it, and the reason is in the same letter, three chapters on. Hebrews is walking through the tent, and it says this: "And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all" (Hebrews 9:3). The curtain in front of the Most Holy is the second veil. A second one means there was a first one, and Exodus says what it was. The inner curtain is the one that "shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy" (Exodus 26:33). Before that one, at the door of the tent, hangs another: "And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen" (Exodus 26:36). So the priest going to work in the morning passed through a curtain to get into the first room, and the high priest passed through a second curtain to get into the last one. That is the order Hebrews is counting in, and it is why the inner one is called the second.
The Case for Christian Prophecy, the chapter on the sanctuary
The Most Holy
Mercy over the law
"Mercy rested directly over the law that condemns me. That is the whole gospel drawn in furniture, the broken law below and mercy covering it by blood"
The book, the chapter on the sanctuary · Leviticus 17:11The last room held one thing. A chest two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide and high, covered in gold inside and out. Inside it lay the law, two tables of stone written with the finger of God. On top lay a lid of solid gold, the mercy seat, with a cherub of beaten gold at each end, the two facing each other, their wings spread over it. Once a year the high priest sprinkled blood on that lid. And God said that is where He would meet with His people.
"And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel."Exodus 25:22
John saw the temple in heaven opened, and the ark inside it.
"And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail."Revelation 11:19
Go deeper
"And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof."Exodus 25:10
"And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about."Exodus 25:11
"The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it."Exodus 25:15
"And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee."Exodus 25:16
"And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God."Exodus 31:18
"And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof."Exodus 25:17
"And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat."Exodus 25:18
"And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be."Exodus 25:20
"And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee."Exodus 25:21
"And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times."Leviticus 16:14
"For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul."Leviticus 17:11
"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."Romans 3:20
"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;"Hebrews 9:4
"And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly."Hebrews 9:5
"The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved."Psalm 99:1
And over the law inside the ark lay a golden lid, the mercy seat, where the blood was sprinkled. Mercy rested directly over the law that condemns me. That is the whole gospel drawn in furniture, the broken law below and mercy covering it by blood, for "the life of the flesh is in the blood" (Leviticus 17:11). A life was given, and that life now covers the law I broke.
The Case for Christian Prophecy, the chapter on the sanctuary
The law inside, and the book beside
"So the book standing there against me is the same book that shows me how to live and shows me the way out."
The book, the chapter on the sanctuary · Deuteronomy 31:26Two different laws were kept with the ark, and Scripture is careful about where each one went. Inside the ark, under the mercy seat, lay the Ten Commandments, the two tables of stone God wrote Himself. Beside the ark, not inside it, lay the book Moses wrote, the book of the sacrifices and the feasts.
"And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the LORD commanded me."Deuteronomy 10:5
"Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee."Deuteronomy 31:26
Go deeper
"And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God."Exodus 31:18
"And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee."Exodus 25:16
"And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee."Exodus 25:21
"There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt."1 Kings 8:9
"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;"Hebrews 9:4
"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."Romans 3:20
Inside the ark lay the Ten Commandments, the law God wrote with His own finger in stone, and He told Moses to put them there: "And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee" (Exodus 25:16). That law tells me what sin is, for "by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20). It is the law I break, and there is nothing harsh in it, because the law is only love written down.
A second law lay beside the ark, not inside it. This one Moses wrote himself, and it is the book of the sacrifices and the feasts. He handed it to the Levites with an instruction: "Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee" (Deuteronomy 31:26). A witness against me is what Moses called it, and that is exactly what it is. But look at what is in the book laid there. Some of it is how to live with the man next door. If you see his ox wandering loose you do not look the other way. You do not move the stone that marks the edge of his field. You do not keep two sets of weights in your bag. You pay a poor man the same day he works for you, and Moses gives the reason inside the law itself: "At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it" (Deuteronomy 24:15). And the rest of it is lambs, and blood, and a priest going in on somebody else's behalf. So the book standing there against me is the same book that shows me how to live and shows me the way out.
The Case for Christian Prophecy, the chapter on the sanctuary
When the work is done
From the cross to His coming
"unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."
Hebrews 9:28Walk it once more, from the gate. The altar is the cross, once for all. The laver is the new birth. The first room is His daily work for us, with our names on His heart. The last room is the judgment, where the record is cleared. And when the work inside is finished, He comes out again, to the people waiting for Him. The whole tent is the whole of His ministry, from start to finish.
"For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."Hebrews 9:26
"For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD."Leviticus 16:30
Go deeper
"For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:"Hebrews 9:24
"Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."Hebrews 7:25
"And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people."Leviticus 16:24
"So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."Hebrews 9:28
Daniel said the sanctuary would be cleansed, and that is Daniel's own word for it. A cleansing is what this is. The sin is forgiven at the altar. The record is cleared in the last room, and the man whose record it is has his name written on the breastplate of the One doing the clearing.
The Case for Christian Prophecy, the chapter on the sanctuary