Faith is spiritual sight, an understanding of that which cannot be seen literally, but can be perceived spiritually. We cannot see events taking place in ancient times, nor can we can talk to people long since dead. But we can perceive the significance of the events of their lives, and we can contemplate the character of the hero or heroine. History can only be perceived by faith. It may be based upon fact, but ultimately it is understood by faith; in other words, it is a subjective interpretation of personal and public records.
The Letter to the Hebrews interprets the history of the people of Israel as foreshadowing the life and work of Jesus Christ in a particular way. Otherwise meaningless events, obscure personalities, and difficult passages are re-interpreted with new meaning and given a clarity that is achieved nowhere else. In other words, we have the privilege of being shown a method of interpretation we would not otherwise have seen. We begin our comments at the start of Hebrews 8, where we have a summary of the teaching already covered in the letter:
“We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the majesty in the heavens; a minister of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man” (Heb. 8:1,2).
These words relate the Old Testament to the work of Jesus Christ, along with this verse:
“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” (Heb. 9:24).
In other words, the tabernacle, its design, its fittings and its furnishings were a giant visual aid to teach the people about the “real things in heaven”. This does not mean that there is a physical structure in heaven called “The Sanctuary”; however, it may suggest that there is a location where God dwells, where angels praise “the God of all creation” and where Jesus met his Father and dwells with Him. He is at the right hand of the Father as our high priest, a role made possible by his ascension into the heavens. The real things are, therefore, the ascension of Christ, his role as priest, and his return from heaven.
The terms “high priest” and “tabernacle” take us back to the wilderness journey and the past experiences of the Hebrews. The Most Holy Place was unoccupied except for the Ark of the Covenant, the top of which was a flat piece of wood overlaid with gold, deemed to be the throne of God. This place had a very important significance for the Jews: this was the place where the high priest, once a year on the Day of Atonement, took the blood of animals and sprinkled it upon this, the “mercy seat”, seeking forgiveness for the sins of the people. This act foreshadowed the work of Jesus who gave, instead of the blood of bulls and goats, his own blood — his own life; and who, in a figure, took that blood into the presence of God to plead for forgiveness of believers’ sins.
In a similar fashion, all of the furniture of the Tabernacle, the work of the High Priest, and the various sacrifices had special meanings — it all foreshadowed the work of Jesus. It was all “a figure for the time then present”; it was a parable, teaching those who would understand its meaning, that Messiah had to suffer and die before he could be crowned with glory. The cross must precede the crown.
The past has therefore relevance for the present age, in order for us to understand the role and significance of Jesus. Each of the items had their significance and was considered to be “good”, but Christ was much better. In this Letter to the Hebrews, certain key words point the way to understanding the key messages: Christ is better!
Better than angels 1:4
Better than priesthood 7:7
Better hope 7:19
Better covenant 7:22; 8:6
Better promises 8:6
Better sacrifices 9:23
Better reward 10:34
Better country 11:16
Better resurrection 11:35
Better thing 11:40
Better blood sprinkling 12:24
Better response by believers 6:9
And… Christ is perfect!
Perfect through suffering 2:10
Being made perfect 5:9
Go on to perfection 6:1
If therefore perfection… 7:11
The Law made nothing perfect 7:19
The son consecrated for evermore 7:28
Could not be… perfect as pertaining… 9:9…
A more perfect tabernacle 9:11
Never… made the comers… perfect 10:1
Perfected forever 10:14
Without us, should not be perfect 11:40
Author and finisher (perfecter) of our faith 12:2
Spirits of just men made perfect 12:23
These terms show very clearly the way the writer to the Hebrews compared and contrasts the old with the new. Everything of the old was useful and instructive. Everything had a full and integral part to play in explaining the purpose of God, but it was neither complete nor perfect.
A tent by definition is temporary, made for a finite time and for a specific purpose. The Tabernacle was a temporary meeting place; the sacrificial and priestly system equally of short-term duration and value until he came who fulfilled all things.
Again, a summary makes the teaching clear:
“But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 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” (Heb. 9:11,12).
Jesus was the real High Priest who entered into the real Sanctuary with a real sacrifice that saves real people from real sins!
All of these are perceived by faith — we were not there, but we can read about them, we can imagine them in our minds. Furthermore, we can study the details of the sacrificial system, the priestly roles, and the use of the items of furniture. By so doing, we can understand more clearly the work of Christ. However, it is the work of Christ that is important — his life, death, resurrection and ascension together with his return from the Most Holy Place in Heaven. As the writer says:
“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” (Heb. 9:28).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One