Sanctuary
What is the purpose of the sanctuary?
Exodus 25:8 says, “And let them make Me [God] a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.”
God wants to dwell among His people and be their God.
Exodus 29:45-46 says, “I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.”
God reveals the plan of salvation through the sanctuary.
Psalm 77:13 says, “Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; Who is so great a God as our God?”
Moses built the sanctuary according to a pattern.
Exodus 25:8-9 says, “And let them make Me [God] a sanctuary...According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it.”
What was the earthly sanctuary patterned after?
Hebrews 8:1-5 says, “Now 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 of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.... For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, ‘See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.’”
In the sanctuary service the blood of the lamb brought forgiveness.
Hebrews 9:22 says, “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.”
Who or what did the sacrificial lamb represent?
Isaiah 53:7 says, “...He [Jesus] was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.”
John 1:29 also says, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
The sanctuary shows that salvation comes through Jesus, the true high priest.
Hebrews 2:16-17 says, “For indeed He [Jesus] does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”
Jesus, the true high priest, sympathizes with our weaknesses and helps amid difficulty.
Hebrews 4:14-16 says, “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”