The Sanctuary of the Bible

THE word sanctuary in the Bible, except in the few cases where it is used figuratively, refers always to the place where the high priest ministers before God for the sins of the people. It was first the tabernacle erected by Moses; then it was the temple built by Solomon, which was a more glorious structure than the tabernacle, but with the same two holy places; and when the typical sacrifices ended in the death of Christ, who is the true sin-offering, the earthly sanctuary, or holy places, ceased to be the center of God's worship, and Christ entered the temple in heaven as a great High Priest—the minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. The temple of God in heaven is the sanctuary from which the psalmist says the Lord beheld the earth (Ps. 102:19), and which Jeremiah speaks of as being where the throne of God is found. Jer. 17:12; Rev. 16:17.

The ministration in the earthly sanctuary could not actually take away sins; for it had only the blood of bulls and goats to offer. Heb. 10:4. It was ordained for the purpose of instructing men with reference to the work of Christ, and of encouraging them to look forward to his work. It is a shadow or representation of the service of Christ in the sanctuary of God in heaven. Heb. 8:5; 10:1; Col. 2:17. It took one year to complete the round of service in the earthly sanctuary at the end of which the cleansing of the sanctuary took place. The round of service was repeated each year, even as a shadow is renewed each day. But the ministration of Christ which casts this shadow fills out each part of the work once for all, and is not repeated. We shall therefore find the study of the service in the earthly sanctuary full of instruction as to the work of Christ in the sanctuary above.

The ministration in the first apartment occupied the entire year with the exception of one day, which was devoted to work in the second apartment, or most holy place, to close up the work which had been wrought in the first apartment. The work in the first apartment was on this wise: When a man repented of his sin, he brought a sin-offering to the priest to the door of the sanctuary. Then he confessed his sin to the priest, and put his hand upon the head of his offering to indicate the transfer of the guilt from himself to his offering. Then the victim was slain because of that guilt thus transferred to it, and the blood, representing the life of the victim, was taken by the priest and carried into the sanctuary, and sprinkled there before God. This act was the offering of the life of an innocent victim in the place of the life of him who had broken the law of God, and it was the transference of that man's guilt from himself to the sanctuary of God. See Lev. 4 and the parallel scriptures. This was the most important feature of the work in the first apartment, and by it the guilt of the penitents was transferred from themselves to the tabernacle.

On the tenth day of the seventh month, which was called the day of atonement, the ministration was transferred to the second apartment, or most holy place. Lev. 16. By God's direction, the high priest on this day caused two goats to be brought to the door of the sanctuary. On these he was to cast lots. One was for the Lord, the other was for Azazel. Then he slew the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and took his blood to present it before God as a sin offering in the most holy place, sprinkling it upon the mercy-seat. He did this for two purposes: 1. To make atonement for the people. 2. To cleanse the sanctuary by removing from it the sins of the people of God. Lev. 16:15-19.

The sanctuary being cleansed, the high priest comes out of the building, and having caused the other goat to be brought which was for Azazel, he lays both his hands upon his head, and confesses over him all the transgressions of the children of Israel in all their sins. These he puts upon the head of the goat, and sends him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. And it is said that "the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited." Verses 20-22.

The work of the high priest on this great day of atonement was for the purpose of completing the work which had been partially accomplished in the first apartment. By the work in that apartment, the sins had been transferred to the sanctuary through the blood of sin-offering. By the work in the second apartment, the sanctuary is cleansed and the sins of the people of God blotted out. Such was the work in the earthly sanctuary, and such was the cleansing of the sanctuary, as set forth in the example and shadow of heavenly things.

The earthly sanctuary was only made as the pattern of the sanctuary in heaven. Heb. 8 and 9. Itself and its services pertained only to the first covenant. Heb. 9:1. With the introduction of the new covenant came the real sanctuary of God, the tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man. Heb. 8:1, 2. While the first tabernacle stood, it signified that the way into the holy places of the heavenly temple was not opened. Heb. 9:8. But when our Lord ascended on high, he became a great High Priest, and by his own blood he entered the temple of God. Verses 11, 12. The order of his ministration is clearly indicated by the service in the two apartments of the earthly sanctuary. Heb. 8:5; 9:8-12; 10:1. And we are able to trace the ministration of Christ in these two apartments of the temple above in the New Testament.

Thus, when John looked into the temple of God in heaven, he saw the Father sitting upon the throne, and before the throne were seven lamps burning. Rev. 4. In this place also he saw the Son of God. Rev. 5. Before the throne also stood the golden altar of incense. Rev. 8:3. These things do clearly mark the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, and show that this was the place where our Lord began his ministration as our High Priest.

But there is a time when his ministration is to be within the second apartment. This is marked in John's statement of the events under the seventh trumpet: "And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament." Rev. 11:19. The ark marks the second apartment as the seven lamps and the golden altar of incense mark the first. The second apartment is therefore opened under the seventh angel, and the days (or years) at the beginning of his voice constitute the period in which the mystery of God or work of the gospel for fallen man is finished. Rev. 10:7; Eph. 3:4-6. It is certain, therefore, that as there was a time each year devoted to the finishing up of the round of service in "the example and shadow of heavenly things" so is there such a period in the conclusion of Christ's ministration, when once for all our High Priest finishes his work of priesthood; and as this work in the former dispensation took place in the second apartment, so also under the new covenant does this work find its accomplishment within the second vail by the ark of the ten commandments. The work in the second apartment of the earthly sanctuary does not therefore represent the work of the whole gospel dispensation, but only of that part of it devoted to the finishing of the mystery of God.

The work within the second apartment was for the cleansing of the sanctuary, and this was performed by the high priest with blood, and when it was accomplished the sins of the people were blotted out. It was, therefore, an event of the greatest importance to the people of God. The heavenly sanctuary is to be cleansed, and for the same reason that the earthly sanctuary was cleansed. So Paul testifies in Heb. 9:23. The same word which Paul uses to express the purification in this text is used in the Septuagint version of Daniel 8:14, for cleansing. The prophecy of Daniel shows us that the sanctuary of God is cleansed in the last days of the new covenant dispensation. The sanctuary of the new covenant is in heaven. Heb. 8:1, 2. This heavenly sanctuary is to be cleansed; for Paul affirms it. Heb. 9:23. The time marked for its cleansing is that fixed by John for the opening of the temple in heaven and for the finishing of the mystery of God. Rev. 11:19; 10:7. The cleansing of the sanctuary is the removal from it of the sins of the people of God that had been borne into it by the High Priest, and their blotting out from the record that stands against the saints, preparatory to their being placed upon the head of the scape goat, or Azazel.

Now this Azazel, as the word is in the original, or scape-goat, as some translations render it, can be no other than Satan; for the being that receives the sins of the righteous after the High Priest has finished his work in the sanctuary, can be no other than Satan, the author of sin. The word Azazel was understood by the ancient people of God to mean Satan. When, therefore, the goat was sent into a land not inhabited, it represents the fact that Satan at the conclusion of Christ's work as priest shall be cast into the bottomless pit. Rev. 20.

The treading under foot of the sanctuary is not performed by literally trampling it in the dust. It is trodden under foot in the same manner that men are represented as treading under foot the Son of God who ministers in that sanctuary. Heb. 10:29.

But does Daniel's vision really take in the heavenly sanctuary? We know that the earthly sanctuary as understood by him was the temple of God. Dan. 9:17, 26. His view was in exact harmony with that of Paul in Heb. 9:1-5. And ought we not to understand that the entire 2300 days belong to the temple in old Jerusalem? Such is the view taken by some, and yet it is not at all in harmony with the statement of Gabriel. The entire period of 2300 days does not belong to old Jerusalem; for Gabriel said, "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city." The words literally translated from the Hebrew are, "Seventy weeks are cut off upon thy people, and upon thy holy city." Dan. 9:24. So we have the highest authority for saying that only 490 of the 2300 days pertain to the earthly sanctuary. And it is worthy of notice that the actual transition from the earthly sanctuary to that of the new covenant, which is the heavenly, is in close proximity to the end of the 490 days.

And this is not all. Gabriel introduces the heavenly sanctuary itself, for the last event mentioned under the seventy weeks is the anointing of the most holy. In the Hebrew, this is the anointing of the holy of holies. This cannot mean Christ, but must mean the sanctuary of God. It cannot mean the earthly sanctuary, for that was left of God at this very time (Matt. 23:38), and was, with all the typical system, here set aside. The anointing of the sanctuary was that which prepared the way for the ministration therein. Lev. 8:10. The ministration in the earthly sanctuary was now finished, and that in the heavenly was about to commence. The sanctuary, therefore, which at this time was anointed, was that which at this very point took the place of the earthly sanctuary. It was the temple of God in heaven which Gabriel then brings to Daniel's view. The 2300 days do, therefore, embrace the closing period of the earthly sanctuary and the entire history of the ministration in the sanctuary of the new covenant. They end in the last days of the new covenant dispensation, and the cleansing of the sanctuary is the consummation of the work of our great High Priest therein.

The nature of that work we will now briefly indicate. The work of the judgment is divided into two parts. The first part is the investigative judgment, which takes place in the heavenly sanctuary, God the Father sitting in judgment. The second part is the execution of the judgment, and is committed wholly to Christ, who comes to our earth to accomplish this work. John 5:22-27; Jude 14, 15. It is while the investigative judgment is in session that the cleansing of the sanctuary takes place. Or, to speak more accurately, the cleansing of the sanctuary is identical with the work of the investigative judgment.

This part of the judgment is described in Daniel 7:9-14. God the Father sits upon the throne of judgment. Those who stand before the Father are the angels. Compare Rev. 5:11. It is not upon earth, for the Father does not come to our earth. It is before the second advent of Christ, for Christ comes to our earth as a king sitting upon his own throne (Matt. 25:31, 34; Luke 19:12, 15; 2 Tim. 4:1), but this tribunal of the Father is the very place where he is crowned king. Dan. 7:13, 14. It is the time and place where our Lord concludes his priestly office, and must, therefore, be in the second apartment of the sanctuary above. Rev. 10:7; 11:15, 18, 19.

When the Saviour comes, he gives immortality to the righteous dead. 1 Cor. 15:23, 51-55; 1 Thess. 4:15-17. The rest of the dead are left until the resurrection of the unjust. Rev. 20. But those who are thus made immortal were previously accounted worthy of that great salvation. Luke 20:35. There can be no examination afterward to ascertain whether they shall be saved or lost, for they are put in possession of eternal life at the moment when the trumpet sounds. And such, also, is the case with the living righteous. They are changed to immortality in the same moment with the dead in Christ. 1 Thess. 4:15-17. These are previously judged worthy of this great salvation (Luke 21:36), and can never afterward be subjected to trial for the determination of this point. The decision who shall have eternal life has, therefore, been made before Christ descends to execute the judgment.

As the object of this final work in the sanctuary is to determine who are worthy of everlasting life, no cases will come before this tribunal except those who have had their names entered in the book of life. All others are left out of this investigation as having never become partakers in Christ's atoning work. The investigation will determine who have overcome their sins; and these will have their sins blotted from the record, and their names retained in the book of life. It will also determine who have not overcome and these will have their names blotted from the book of life, Rev. 3:5, and their sins will be retained in the record, to be visited with retribution in the resurrection to damnation.

The righteous need a high priest until their sins are blotted out. They cannot be blotted out till the judgment; for God has decreed to bring every work into judgment, whether good or evil. Eccl. 12:13, 14; 3:17.

He certainly cannot bring any record into judgment, after he has blotted it out. The blotting out is therefore the last act of our High Priest, and is done when the Father has counted each person worthy of this; which will only be when the High Priest has shown from the record in the book of God's remembrance that he has actually overcome. The blotting out of sins (Acts 3:19) is therefore the great work which brings our Lord's priesthood to a conclusion. As this is an individual work, it evidently begins with the first generation of the righteous, and so comes down to the last, that is, to those who are alive at the coming of Christ. It is the time of the dead that they should be judged. Rev. 11:18, 19. The first angel gives notice to the inhabitants of the earth that the hour of God's judgment has come. Rev. 14:6, 7. The living are still on probation when this solemn announcement is made to mankind.

The proclamation of the third angel, which is made while Christ is closing up his work in the sanctuary, is designed to prepare the living for the decision of the judgment. When the cases of the living are reached, probation closes up forever. The decree goes forth from the throne of God, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; . . . and he that is holy, let him be holy still." Rev. 22:11. The sins of the overcomers being blotted out, and the sanctuary cleansed, the Son of God is no longer needed as a great High Priest. He therefore ceases from the office forever and becomes a king for the deliverance and glorification of his people, and for the destruction of all transgressors. Dan. 7:13, 14. Satan, the author of sin, receives its dreadful burden when the work in the sanctuary is closed, and will bear it with him to the lake of fire.

It is of infinite consequence to us who live in the time when Christ is closing up his priesthood, that we understand the work which he is performing, and that we so walk in the light as to share in his great salvation.