The writer of Hebrews infers that the Temple and its items are copies of things in heaven. Hebrews 9: 11 So Christ…has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world… 23 That is why the Tabernacle and everything in it, which were copies of things in heaven, had to be purified by the blood of animals… 24 For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself.[1]
The writer gives us many details about the Temple, which doesn’t mean much to us today but was something the original readers held sacred. Basically, the temple setup kept the people separate from God because of their sin. Once a year, the priest could enter the Most Holy place through the curtain. But he could do this only after sacrificing for his sin; then, he could offer a blood sacrifice for the people’s sins. This occasion was called the Day of Atonement and happened every year.
Dealing with the Sin Problem
God had the earthy Temple set up to represent the heavenly reality. But humans had a sin problem, and a holy God could not tolerate sin. The copies of things in heaven help us understand who God is. The Tabernacle and then the Temple were in the midst of the people to demonstrate that God was with them. But because of sin, the average person could not access this presence.
Our limited human minds cannot comprehend the holiness of God. The Most Holy place represented the presence of God. Only a purified priest could enter once a year to make atonement for the nation’s sins. The animal sacrifices demonstrated the seriousness of sin and provided a way for forgiveness until Christ came.
Jesus Gives Us Access to the Throne Room
When Jesus died, the curtain separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place was torn from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). His blood was a once-and-done sacrifice that paid the price for our sin. Through this sacrifice, we can now enter God’s presence into the Most Holy place of heaven. Hebrews 9: 2b4 He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf.[2]
N.T. Wright has a beautiful comment on this: “Just as Jesus has gone into the very heart of the presence of God, not simply into a man-made building with an inner chamber but into the place where God lives in light and holiness, so the effects of his sacrifice are to be felt not only in the outer lives of his people, in terms of restoration to fellowship or being made ‘clean’ again in a bodily sense, but in the inward depths, the ‘holy of holies’ at the core of each individual person, the place where we really are who we are.[3]
To learn more about Christ and the copies of things in heaven, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/jesus-new-covenant
[1-2] Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.
[3] Wright, T. (2004). Hebrews for Everyone (pp. 96–97). Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.