Understanding the Sanctuary truth.

[reddogs]

Let's examine this Sanctuary service ceremony in short detail and look at some of the significant aspects of it. According to Lev 16:7-10 , there were two goats brought by Aaron the high priest to the door of the sanctuary for the atonement sacrifice for the congregation. He casts lots and one of the goats was for the Lord and was killed and one was to be kept alive and offered as a scapegoat or for Azazle.

Now according to nearly all of the scriptures concerning atonement it takes the shedding of blood to make that atonement or for the cleansing of sin to take place. However, in verse 10 we see the word atonement used for the scapegoat part of the ceremony. How could this be since the goat was kept alive and set free to die in the wilderness without shedding of blood? Confusing? Let's continue a little further.

In Lev 16:20-22 we find that this part of the day of atonement was the last thing done during Yom Kippur or the day of atonement. Vrs 20, "After he had made an end of reconciling the Holy Place , and the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, he shall bring the live goat,"

So let's look at what we have so far:
1. All of the reconciling for sins had been done.

2. The live goat shed no blood but was set free to die alone in the wilderness.

So what is meant by the word atonement used in verse 10?

Atonement defined is : To reconcile or a satisfaction for wrong doing, expiation etc.

Now considering both goats were presented before the Lord initially and the atonement was the removal of all sins from the congregation the scapegoat seems to be alluding to the final dispensation of sin upon satan himself. I say this because it was the final part of a ceremony which was designed to cleanse the sins of Israel away. Also, all of the sins of Israel were placed on this goats head.

The word Azazle has a strong connotation to Satan or something separated from God. So the conclusion that this was a symbol of Christ may not have a good foundation. At this time I tend to embrace the concept that Azazle was symbolic of the final dispensation of sin placed on Satan at the end of the thousand year period...."

and from the Great Controversy...

Important truths concerning the atonement are taught by the typical service. A substitute was accepted in the sinner's stead; but the sin was not canceled by the blood of the victim. A means was thus provided by which it was transferred to the sanctuary. By the offering of blood the sinner acknowledged the authority of the law, confessed his guilt in transgression, and expressed his desire for pardon through faith in a Redeemer to come; but he was not yet entirely released from the condemnation of the law. On the Day of Atonement the high priest, having taken an offering from the congregation, went into the most holy place with the blood of this offering, and sprinkled it upon the mercy seat, directly over the law, to make satisfaction for its claims. Then, in his character of mediator, he took the sins upon himself and bore them from the sanctuary. Placing his hands upon the head of the scapegoat, he confessed over him all these sins, thus in figure transferring them from himself to the goat. The goat then bore them away, and they were regarded as forever separated from the people.{GC 420.1}

 

[reddogs]

Here is the Sanctuary explanation of the Scapegoat by by O. R. L. Crozier.

The next event of that day after the Sanctuary was cleansed, was putting all the iniquities and transgressions of the children of Israel upon the head of the scape-goat and sending him away into a land not inhabited, or of separation. It is supposed by almost every one that this goat typified Christ in some of his offices, and that the type was fulfilled at the first Advent. From this opinion I must differ; because,

1st, That goat was not sent away till after the High Priest had made an end of cleansing the Sanctuary, Leviticus 16:20,21; hence that event cannot meet its antitype till after the end of the 2300 days.

2nd, It was sent away from Israel into the wilderness, a land not inhabited, to receive them. If our blessed Saviour is its antitype, He also must be sent away, not his body alone, but soul and body, for the goat was sent away alive, from, not to nor into this people; neither into heaven, for that is not a wilderness or land not inhabited.

3rd, It received and retained all the iniquities of Israel; but when Christ appears the second time He will be “without sin.”

4th, The goat received the iniquities from the hands of the priest and he sent it away. As Christ is the priest the goat must be something else besides himself, and which he can send away.

5th, This was one of two goats chosen for that day, one was the Lord’s and offered for a sin-offering; but the other was not called the Lord’s neither offered as a sacrifice. Its only office was to receive the iniquities from the priest after he had cleansed the Sanctuary from them, and bear them into a land not inhabited, leaving the Sanctuary, priest and people behind and free from their iniquities. Leviticus 16:7-10, 22.

6th, The Hebrew name of the scape-goat, as will be seen from the margin of verse 8, is “Azazel.” On this verse, Wm. Jenks, in his Comp[rehensive] Com[mentary]. has the following remarks;

“Scape-goat. See diff. opin. in Bochart. Spencer, after the oldest opinion of the Hebrews and Christians, thinks Azazel is the name of the devil; and so Rosenmire, whom see. The Syriac has Azazel, the angel, (Strong one) who revolted.”

7th, At the appearing of Christ, as taught from Revelation 20, Satan is to be bound and cast into the bottomless pit, which act and place are significantly symbolized by the ancient High Priest sending the scape-goat into a separate and uninhabited wilderness.

8th, Thus we have the Scripture, the definition of the name in two ancient languages both spoken at the same time, and oldest opinion of the Christians in favour of regarding the scape-goat as a type of Satan. In the common use of the term, men always associate it with something mean, calling the greatest villains and refugees from justice scape-goats. Ignorance of the law and its meaning is the only possible origin that can be assigned for the opinion that the scape-goat was a type of Christ.

Because it is said, “The goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities into a land not inhabited.” Leviticus 16:22; And John said, “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh (margin, beareth) away the sin of the world,” it is concluded without further thought that the former was the type of the latter. But a little attention to the law will show that the sins were borne from the people by the priest, and from the priest by the goat.

1st, They are imparted to the victim. 2nd, The priest bore them in its blood to the Sanctuary. 3rd, After cleansing them from it on the tenth day of the seventh month, he bore them to the scape-goat. And 4th, The goat finally bore them away beyond the camp of Israel to the wilderness.

This was the legal process, and when fulfilled the author of sins will have received them back again, (but the ungodly will bear their own sins), and his head will have been bruised by the seed of the woman; the “strong man armed” will have been bound by a stronger than he, “and his house (the grave) spoiled of its goods (the saints).” Matthew 12:29; Leviticus 11:21,22 [see Leviticus 16:21,22]. The thousand years imprisonment of Satan will have begun, and the saints will have entered upon their millennial reign with Christ.

The antitype of the legal tenth day, the Dispensation of the fulness of times, must begin long enough before the 1000 years of Revelation 20: to give time for the cleansing of the Sanctuary, the antitype of confessing and putting the sins on the head of the scape-goat; which antitype covers the time occupied by the “last end of indignation;” the cry of God’s elect to be avenged. Luke 18:1-8, the travail of Zion, (Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones), the loud cry of the 5th angel, Revelation 14:15, the Laodicean church, Revelation 3:14, and the 7 last plagues Revelation 15: & 16. Our limits will not admit of particulars here. The first resurrection is fixed at the appearing of Christ. 1 Thessalonians 4:16, and the beginning of the 1000 at the first resurrection. Revelation 20:4,5.

The Sanctuary must be cleansed before Christ appears; because,

1. He “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.” - Now as his last act in bearing the sins of many is to bear them from the Sanctuary after he has cleansed it, and as he does not appear till after having borne the sins of many, and then without sin; it is manifest that the Sanctuary must be cleansed before he appears.

2. The host are still under the indignation after the Sanctuary is cleansed, Daniel 8. Both the Sanctuary and the host were trodden under foot. “Unto 2300 days then shall the Sanctuary be cleansed,” or justified (margin). This is the first point in the explanation, and after this Daniel still “sought for the meaning of the vision,” and Gabriel came “to make him know what should be in the last end of the indignation.” In the explanation which follows he says nothing about the Sanctuary, because that had been explained by the Wonderful Numberer. He now tells him about the host upon whom the last end of the indignation still rests after the Sanctuary is cleansed. This indignation is the Lord’s staff – in the hands of the wicked to chastise his people. It was first put into the hands of the Assyrian and has been inherited by each of his successors, which have in turn been sent “against an hypocritical nation, to take the prey and to take the spoil and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.” Isaiah 10.

The last end of the indignation is evidently the bitter persecutions, and the severe and searching trial of God’s people, after the Sanctuary is cleansed, and before the indignation is made to cease in the destruction of the little Horn, the fruit and the successor of the Assyrian, Daniel. 8:25; Isaiah 10:12, 25.

3. The Sanctuary must be cleansed before the resurrection, for the Lord has provided a comforting message for his people, telling them that it is done. “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare (margin, appointed time) is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins,” Isaiah 40:1,2.

Jerusalem and the Lord’s people are here spoken of, as the Sanctuary and host are in Daniel 8. His people, when Jerusalem’s appointed time is accomplished, are affected and are to be comforted by telling them that her iniquity is pardoned. This must be New Jerusalem, for there was never any time set for pardoning the iniquity of Old Jerusalem, which must have had iniquity of some kind and from some source, else she could not be pardoned of it. The fact that the Lord has commanded to comfort his people by telling them that Jerusalem’s iniquity is pardoned, is proof positive that she had iniquity, and that it will be removed before his people are delivered and enter her with songs and everlasting joy.

This message is similar to that in Isaiah 52:9. After the good and peaceful tidings have been published, saying unto Zion, Thy God reigneth, it is declared, “The Lord has comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.” – Jerusalem was in a state from which she had to be redeemed, and that before the resurrection; for the next verse says, “All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”

 

[reddogs]

The purpose of the earthly sanctuary was to give a visual object lesson of the plan of salvation. Its purpose was to deal with the problem of sin. There were 3 parts of the sanctuary – the courtyard, holy and most holy place. The daily ministry of the priests took place in the courtyard and holy place. The yearly ministry of the high priest took place in the most holy place on the Day of Atonement.

When a leader committed a sin, he would take an unblemished lamb to the sanctuary, lean his weight upon the animal and confess his sins. He was then to take a knife and cut the lamb’s throat.(Later the priests took this grisly task upon themselves.) Some of the blood was drained into a bowl. Think of blood as the carrier of sin, just as blood so often is the carrier of disease. Heb. 9:22 says “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.”

The priest would then sprinkle some of the blood on the horns of the alter. He would also take some of the blood and sprinkle it on the veil separating the holy from the most holy place. In effect, the sins of the sinner were transferred from him to the lamb, and then from the lamb to the sanctuary. Each drop of blood on the furniture of the sanctuary or on the veil was, as it were, a record of the sins of God’s people. Thus, throughout the year, the earthly sanctuary was defiled by the sin.

For this reason, the Day of Atonement occurred annually on the 10th day of the 7th month. On this day the high priest would first offer a bull as a sacrifice for his own sins. Next he would select two goats and cast lots for them. One was chosen as the Lord’s goat. The 2nd was the scapegoat or Azazel.(Leviticus 16:8-10: "8and Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. 9And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord, and offer it as a sin offering; 10but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.")

The priest would kill the Lord’s goat and use its blood to sprinkle the articles of furniture, including the cover of the ark of atonement (the mercy seat) and the veil separating the holy and most holy place. “So he (the high priest) shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the unclearness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins…”(Lev. 16:16) This is where the idea of the “cleansing of the sanctuary” comes from. Lev. 16:19 says, “Then he shall sprinkle some fo the blood on it (the alter) with his finger seven times, cleanse it, and sanctify it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.

During the Day of Atonement, the people of Israel were to do no work. It was a ceremonial Sabbath. They were to "afflict their souls" (Lev. 23:27), that is to search their hearts to make sure they were right with God. Any who did not would be "cut off" from the people.(vs. 29)

 

[reddogs]

Now lets look at the symbolism of the earthly sanctuary as it relates to the gospel and the heavenly sanctuary.

No one takes issue with the symbolism of the Lord’s goat representing Jesus who died for our sins. The High Priest is also a symbol of Christ. Heb. 9:23,24 says that “it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these (the blood of animals), but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.(the death of Christ on the cross). For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.”

The courtyard was a symbol of the earth. Isa. 66:1 says,“Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me?” The alter of sacrifce was a symbol of the cross where Jesus died for the sins of the world. He suffered that penalty for sin that those who ultimately reject the mercy of God will experience. That penalty (for sin) is the 2nd death – i.e. separation from God. The sacificial lambs were killed with a knife (symbolizing the first death – the cross) and then burned on the fire (symbolizing the 2nd death, the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14), separation from God. This was what caused our Savior the greatest agony on the cross. He cried out,“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”(Matt. 27:46)

When Jesus bowed His head, just before He died, He cried out,“It is finished.” His atoning sacrifice for sins was complete and Satan was defeated. Nothing can ever be added to that sacrifice. It was perfect and complete, however the plan of salvation is still ongoing. Jesus, while He was alive performed the work of a prophet. He died as our Savior. He rose again and assended to heaven and began his work as our High Priest and intercessor. Jesus work in the heavenly sanctuary is as much a part of the plan of salvation as was His death on the cross. Remember that the Biblical word atonement means to make humans at one with God. This is the purpose of the plan of salvation. God wants to restore humanity into full fellowship with Him such as Adam experienced in the garden of Eden.

While God was reconciled to us by the death of His Son,(Rom. 8:10), none of us would ever be reconciled to God were it not for the intercession of Christ and ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In a sense, the atonement (the plan of salvation) will not be complete until all the redeemed are safely in heaven and are at one with God physically as well as spiritually.

When Jesus ascended to heaven, he began his work in the heavenly sanctuary, of which the earthly sanctuary was a type. The earthly sanctuary proper (i.e. the holy and most holy place) are a symbol of heaven.(Heb. 9:24). God’s throne is in heaven, and Jesus,“after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God”.(Heb. 10:12).“This is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest , who is seated at the right hand of the throne fo the Majesty in the heavens, a Minsiter of the sanctuary (ta hagia) and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected and not man.”(Heb 8:1, 2)

There were two phases to the ministry of of the OT high priest – the daily and the yearly. So there are two phases to the ministry of Jesus symbolized by the two appartments of the sanctuary. There is a lot of confusion in the book of Hebrews because of an inconsistence in the translation of the words Paul uses to the refer to the Sanctuary as a whole (ta hagia – the holies) and the Most Holy Place (Hagia hagion) of the Sanctuary.

Heb. 9:24 says,“For Christ has not entered the holy places (ta hagia) made with hands, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.”

 

[reddogs]

The daily ministry of the temple priests included the morning and evening sacrifice. Also, the fire of the candlesticks and the alter of incense were always kept burning. The stack of 12 loaves of bread (also represent the 12 tribes of Israel - the church of the Old Testament and the 12 disciples - upon whom Jesus built the NT church) were replaced once a week. This is known as the perpetual or continual ministry.

During the first phase of His High Priestly ministry, Jesus ministered the benefits of His finished sacrifice on behalf of humanity. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, he feeds the Christian with Himself, the true bread from heaven. He mixes the merits of His perfect righteousness with the prayers of the saints, making them acceptable to God. He also dwells in the believer by faith giving them the mind of Christ and making them a reflection of His light. He shares the power of His resurrection with believers giving victory over sin and power to live a new life to the glory of God.

The daily or continual ministry of the Holy Place represents the continual ministry of Jesus on behalf of all the world, and particularly believers. The morning and evening sacrifices represent the one sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross. This sacrifice is the basis of our forgiveness and standing with God. While God has already forgiven or reconciled everyone through the death of His Son,(Rom. 5:10) it is only through the ministry of Jesus (and the Holy Spirit) that the benefits of this reconciliation are experienced by the believer.

The daily ministry still took place during the Day of Atonement. Forgiveness for sins was still available until the end of the day.

 

[reddogs]

Where was Jesus when he begin his priestly ministry? In heaven, at the right hand of God. Where is God? In heaven. What phase of ministry did Jesus begin with? The first phases, symbolized by the holy place. How do we know this? When John had a vision of Jesus,(sometime around 95 AD) He (Jesus) was clothed in the white garments of the priesthood and standing “in the midst of the seven lampstands”.(Rev. 1:13) Where were the lampstands in the earthly sanctuary? In the holy place. It is not until Rev. 11, 19 that “the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple”. This shows that at this time the 2nd phase of Christ’s High Priestly ministry has begun, symbolized by the Most Holy Place and the work of the High priest on the Day of Atonement.

Many get confused because the Shekinah glory of God was manifested from the Most Holy Place. They take this to mean that God the Father was sitting on His throne in a little room in the MHP while Jesus was busy for 1800 years in his slightly larger compartment of the Holy Place. I believe that there is some type of sanctuary in heaven that is symbolized by the Most Holy Place, but it is vastly larger than was the MHP of the earthly sancuary. In the early sanctuary, angels were embroidered on the veil separating the Holy from the Most Holy Place. In heaven, real angels minister before the throne of God. The Ark of the Covenant is symbolic of the throne of God. The ark was made of wood covered with stone and contained the 10 commandments. God wants to dwell on the throne of our hearts and the new covenant promise is that the law will be written in our hearts. The wood is symbolic of humanity while the gold is symbolic of divinity. Between God and us is the Mercy Seat, which is a symbol of Christ, the only intercessor between man and God.

People assume that the throne of God is static and cannot be moved. Dan. 7:9, however describes the beginning of a judgment scene in heaven.“I watched till thrones were put in place,(they must have been moved from somewhere.) and the Ancient of Days was seated,…His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire.”(emphasis mine) Wheels indicate a mobile throne. This means that God’s throne does not have to remain in one place. It can freely move beween areas of heaven.(i.e. from the holy to the most holy place)

The courtyard is symbolic of the Christian's experience of justification (Salvation past). The holy place is a symbol of sanctification (salvation present – ongoing). The Most Holy Place is a symbol of glorification (future salvation). While we have not yet been glorified, we have a down payment of our inheritance through the Holy Spirit and by faith can dwell with Jesus in heavenly places.

 

[reddogs]

The Jewish religious year contains a summary of God’s plan of salvation. There were 7 ceremonial Sabbaths connected with the feasts. The sacred calendar began with the Passover. This feast was both commemorative and prophetic. It pointed back to their deliverance from Egypt and pointed forward to the cross. The civil calendar began on the same day that the Feast of Trumpets began (1st Tishrei).

The spring feasts were all fulfilled on the exact day of the feast. Jesus died on the day of the Passover (14th Nisan). The Passover lamb was to be set aside a few days before it was to be killed. Even so, the Sanhedrin condemned Jesus to death a few days before He was actually crucified. The Passover lamb was to be sacrificed at twilight. At the very time when the priests were preparing to kill the sacrificial lamb, at 3 pm in the afternoon, Jesus died on the cross. The day after the Passover was to be kept as a ceremonial Sabbath. John tells us that the day Jesus died was the “Preparation Day”(John 19:42), that is, the day before the Sabbath. Luke corroborates this saying “That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near…And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.”(Luke 23:54,56) Just as Jesus rested on the 7th day after His work of creation was completed, so also He rested in the tomb on the 7th day after His work of redemption was complete.

Jesus told His followers He would rise on the 3rd day. In Jewish reckoning, a part of a day counted as a day. He died on Friday, rested in the tomb on the Sabbath and rose on Sunday – the first day of the week. On the 16th of Nisan, the priest would wave the first fruits of the harvest before the Lord. The final harvest represents the end of the world. The Bible tells us that when Jesus died, there was a great earthquake.“And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.”(Matt 27:52, 53) What happened to these saints? Did they die again? No. Eph. 4:8 says,“When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men.” Who were those held in captivity (to death) that Jesus led in a train of victory to heaven? It was the resurrected saints. As the priest was waving the first fruits of the harvest before the Lord, Jesus was in heaven presenting the first fruits of this earth’s final harvest before the Father!

The last spring feast was the feast of Pentecost. This marked the end of the Spring harvest. It occurred exactly 50 days after the Passover. Jesus spent 40 days with the disciples before ascending to heaven from the Mt. of Olives.(Acts 1:3) The disciples sought God for 10 days. "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come" the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples. The antitype was again fulfilled on the exact day the feast's shadow foretold.
[Note-parts of this study I came across from a Adventist brother who based it on "The Cross and Its Shadow" by SN Haskell and the SDA Bible Commentary.]

 

[reddogs]

Now lets look at the lamb that was slain, Jesus, who is the sacrifice for sin. It says in Hebrews chapter 7, verse 25,“Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Jesus death on the cross satisfied the requirement of the law and the righteousness of God. Jesus death on the cross also represents the perfect sin offering for the Day of Atonement's High Priestly ministry for the cleansing of sin.

Christ is before the Father, and He’s pleading His blood. He did not stop pleading when He went through a transition in His ministry. He still is our High Priest and is still pleading His blood on behalf of repentant sinners.

 

[reddogs]

Here is a more on the explanation of the Sanctuary truth by O. R. L. Crozier....
The Sanctuary was the heart of the typical system. There the Lord placed his name, manifested his glory, and held converse with the High Priest relative to the welfare of Israel. While we inquire from the scriptures what the sanctuary is, let all educational prejudice be dismissed from the mind. For the Bible clearly defines what the Sanctuary is, and answers every reasonable question you may ask concerning it.

The name, sanctuary, is applied to several different things in the O.T.; neither did the Wonderful Numberer, tell Daniel what sanctuary was to be cleansed at the end of the 2,300 days but called it THE SANCTUARY, as though Daniel well understood it, and that he did is evident from the fact that he did not ask what it was. But as it has now became a matter of dispute as to what the sanctuary is, our only safety lies in seeking from the N.T. the Divine comment upon it. Its decisions should place the matter beyond all controversy with Christians.

Paul freely discusses this subject in his Epistle to the Hebrews, to whom the typical covenant pertained. He takes up their "tables of the law", which had then become a snare to them, admits all they claim relative to their primitive use and importance, and then explains their object, and end.
Hebrews 9:1. "Then verily the first Covenant had ordinances of Divine service and a worldly sanctuary,(ch. 13:11). For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the tables and the shew-bread; which is called (Hagin) Holy. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the (Hagia Hagion) Holy of Holies; 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 overshadowing the Mercy-seat; of which we cannot now speak particularly."

A particular description is found in the last four books of the Pentateuch. "Sanctuary" was the first name the Lord gave it; Exodus 25:8, which name covers not only the tabernacle with its two apartments, but also the court and all the vessels of the ministry.- This, Paul calls the Sanctuary of the first covenant,
"which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices;" Hebrews 9:9.

"But Christ being come an High Priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands;" verse 11.
The priests entered the "figures" or "patterns of the true," which true, are the "heavenly places themselves" into which Christ entered when he entered "heaven itself;" verses 23,24. When he ascended to the right hand of the Father "in the heavens" he became "A minister of the Sanctuary (Hagion, Holies) and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man;" Ch 8: 1,2. That is the Sanctuary of the "better (the new) covenant", verse 6.

The Sanctuary to be cleansed at the end of the 2,300 days is also the Sanctuary of the new covenant, for the vision of the treading down and cleansing, is after the crucifixion. We see that the Sanctuary of the new covenant is not on earth, but in heaven.- The true tabernacle which forms a part of the new covenant Sanctuary, was made and pitched by the Lord, in contradistinction to that of the first covenant which was made and pitched by man, in obedience to the command of God. Exodus 25:8.

 

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Now what does the same Apostle say the Lord has pitched!
"A city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God;" Hebrews 11:10.

What is its name? "The heavenly Jerusalem;" ch. 12:23, Revelation 21: "A building of God, an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens; 2 Corinthians 5:1. "My Father's house of many mansions" John 14:2.

When our Saviour was at Jerusalem and had pronounced its house desolate, the disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple. Then he said:
"There shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down": Matthew 24:1,2.

That temple was their Sanctuary: 1 Chronicles 22:17-19; 28:9-13; 2 Chronicles 29:5,21; 36:14,17. Such an announcement would tend to fill them with sadness and fear, as foretelling the derangement, if not the total prostration of their entire religious system. But to comfort and teach them, he says,
"In my Father's house are many mansions;" John 14:1-3.

Standing, as he was, on the dividing line between the typical covenant and the anti-typical, and having just declared the house of the former no longer valid, and foretold its destruction; how natural that he should point his disciples to the Sanctuary of the latter, about which their affections and interests were to cluster as they had about that of the former. The Sanctuary of the new covenant is connected with New Jerusalem, like the Sanctuary of the first covenant was with Old Jerusalem. As that was the place where the priests of that covenant ministered, so this is in heaven, the place where the Priest of the new covenant ministers. To these places, and these only, the New Testament applies the name "Sanctuary," and it does appear that this should forever set the question at rest.

Paul teaches that his Sanctuary is in heaven.
Again, Daniel 11:30,31, "For the ships of Chittim shall come against him; therefore shall he be grieved and return, and have indignation (the staff to chastise) against the holy covenant (Christianity), so shall he do; he shall even return and have intelligence with them (priests and bishops) that forsake the holy covenant. And arms (civil and religious) shall stand on his part, and they (Rome and those that forsake the holy covenant) shall pollute the Sanctuary of strength."

 

[reddogs]

So as Adventist we hold that Christ ascended to the heavenly sanctuary...

Hebrews 8:1,2 We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.”

Which is in heaven and began his work...

Hebrews 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us

There in the Sanctuary in heaven, the true tabernacle which the Lord set up and not man. Christ ministers on our behalf, making available to believers the benefits of His atoning sacrifice offered once for all on the cross.