"And let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them." Ex.
25:8.
2. What was offered in this sanctuary?
"In which were offered both gifts and sacrifices." Heb. 9:9.
3. Besides the court, how many parts had this sanctuary?
"And the veil shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most
holy." Ex. 26:33.
4. What was in the first apartment, or holy place?
"For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and
the table, and the showbread; which is called the sanctuary." Heb. 9:2.
"And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation before the
veil." Ex. 40:26. See also Ex. 30:1-6.
5. What was contained in the second apartment?
"And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all;
which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round
about with gold, wherein was . . . the tables of the covenant." Heb. 9:3,4.
See also Ex. 40:20,21.
6. By what name was the cover of the ark known?
"And thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou
shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee." Ex. 25:21.
7. Where was God to meet with Israel?
"And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the
mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony." Verse
22.
8. What was in the ark, under the mercy-seat?
"And He wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten
commandments. . . . And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the
tables in the ark which I had made." Deut. 10:4,5.
9. When did the priest minister in the first apartment of the sanctuary?
"Now these things having been thus prepared, the priests go in continually into
the first tabernacle, accomplishing the services." Heb. 9:6, R.V.
10. Who alone went into the second apartment, how often, and for what purpose?
"But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without
blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people." Verse 7..
11. What were sinners desiring pardon instructed to do?
"And if anyone of the common people sin through ignorance, while he doeth somewhat
against any of the commandments of the Lord. . . then he shall bring his offering, a kid
of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned. And he shall
lay his hand upon the head of the sin-offering, and slay the sin-offering in the place of
the burnt offering." Lev. 4:27-29.
NOTE.-According to this, if a man sinned in Israel, he violated one of the ten
commandments that were in the ark under the mercy-seat. These commandments are the
foundation of God's government. To violate them is to commit sin, and so become subject to
death. 1 John 3:4; Rom. 6:23. But there was a mercy-seat reared above these holy and just
commandments. In the dispensation of His mercy, God grants the sinner the privilege of
confessing his sins, and bringing a substitute to meet the demands of the law, and thus of
obtaining mercy.
12. What was done with the blood of the offering?
"And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon
the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at
the bottom of the altar." Verse 30.
NOTE.-After a person discovered his sin by the law which demanded the death of the
transgressor, he first brought his offering, then he confessed his sin while laying his
hands on the head of the victim, thus, in figure, transferring his sin to the victim; the
victim was next slain in the court, or outer part of the sanctuary, and its blood put on
the horns of the altar and poured at the foot of the altar. In this way sins were
pardoned, and, in the typical service, transferred to the sanctuary.
13. After the accumulation of the sins of the year in this way, what service took
place on the tenth day of the seventh month of each year?
"And this shall be a statute forever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the
tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, . . . for on that day shall the
priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins
before the Lord." Lev. 16:29,30.
14. How was the sanctuary itself to be cleansed, and how were the sins of the people
to be finally disposed of?
"And he [the high priest] shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel
two kids of the goats for a sin-offering. . . . And he shall take the two goats, and
present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron
shall cast lots upon the two goats, one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for
the scapegoat." Verses 5-8.
NOTE.-The Hebrew word for scapegoat is Azazel. See margin of verse 8. It is used
as a proper name, and according to the opinion of the most ancient Hebrews and Christians,
refers to Satan, or the angel who revolted and persisted in rebellion and sin.
15. What was done with the blood of the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell?
"Then shall he kill the goat of the sin-offering, that is for the people, and
bring his blood within the veil, . . . and sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat, and
before the mercy-seat." Verse 15.
16. Why was it necessary to make this atonement?
"And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness
of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and
so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the
midst of their uncleanness." Verse 16.
NOTE.-Sins were conveyed into the sanctuary during the year by the blood of the
personal sin-offerings offered daily at the door of the tabernacle. Here they remained
until the day of atonement, when the high priest went into the most holy place with the
blood of the goat on which the Lord's lot fell; and, bearing the accumulated sins of the
year in before the mercy-seat, he there, in type, atoned for them, and so cleansed the
sanctuary.
17. After having made atonement for the people in the most holy place, what
did the high priest next do?
"And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of
the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: and Aaron shall lay both
his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the
children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the
head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the
wilderness." Verses 20,21.
NOTE.-The offering of the Lord's goat cleansed the sanctuary. By this offering the sins
of the people, transferred there during the year, were, in type, atoned for; but they were
not by this offering finally disposed of, or destroyed. The scapegoat, symbolizing Satan,
the great tempter and originator of sin, was brought to the sanctuary, and upon his head
were placed all these sins which Satin had tempted God's people to commit.
18. What final disposition was made of the sins of the people?
"And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not
inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness." Verse 22.
19. What was this earthly sanctuary and its round of service?
"Which was a figure for the time then present." Heb. 9:9.
20. Of what sanctuary, or tabernacle, is Christ the minister?
"A minister of the sanctuary, arid of the true tabernacle, which the Lord
pitched, and not man." Heb. 8:2.
21. Of what was the blood of all the sacrifices of the former dispensation only a
type?
"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. 9:12.
See Eph. 5:2.
NOTE.-Through the sacrifices and offerings brought to the altar of the earthly
sanctuary, the penitent believer was to lay hold of the merits of Christ, the Saviour to
come. In this way, and in this way only, was there any virtue connected with them.
22. At the death of Christ, what miraculous occurrence signified that the priestly
work and services of the earthly sanctuary were finished?
"Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And,
behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom." Matt.
27:50,51.
NOTES.-Type had met antitype; the shadow had reached the substance. Christ, the great
sacrifice, had been slain, and was about to enter upon His final work as our great high
priest in the sanctuary in heaven.
The priestly work in the earthly sanctuary was typical of the work of Christ in the
heavenly sanctuary. In the earthly, the atonement was performed on the last day of the
ceremonial year. All who did not then have their sins atoned for were "cut off,"
and the camp was cleansed from sin. The atonement day was virtually a day of judgment for
Israel, and the people whose sins had been atoned for were free from sin, and could enter
upon the services of the new year clean in the sight of God. This work was kept up year
after year. In the heavenly sanctuary, the sacrifice is offered but once; and but one
atonement, or cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, can be made, which must take place at
the time assigned of God for it. And when the great atonement, or cleansing, of the
heavenly sanctuary has been made, God's people will be forever free from sin, and the fate
of all will be forever sealed. See Rev. 22:11. This, as in the type will be a day of
judgment.
The round of service in the earthly sanctuary was God's service. It had to do with the
sins of the people; not that the blood of the sacrifices offered there could in itself
take away their sins, for it is expressly said that it could not. Heb. 10:4. It could,
however, show their faith in the efficacy of Christ's blood yet to be
spilled, and to which the sanctuary work was intended constantly to direct their minds.
The work there was a type, or shadow, of Christ's atoning work, and, as such, carries with
it a significance that cannot be overestimated. Upon a correct understanding of the type
depends a correct understanding of the antitype. The entire sanctuary service was an
object-lesson of most important and vital gospel truth,-that of man's salvation and the
atonement of sin.
23. What relation does the earthly sanctuary sustain to the heavenly?
"Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses
was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith He, that
thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount."
Heb. 8:5.
24. By what comparison is it shown that the heavenly sanctuary will be cleansed?
"It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be
purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than
these." Heb. 9:23.
25. When Christ has finished His priestly mediatorial work in the heavenly
sanctuary, what decree will go forth?
"He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be
filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy,
let him be holy still." Rev. 22:11.
26. What event is directly connected with the blotting out of sin and the final
refreshing from God's presence?
"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when
the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send
Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until
the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy
prophets since the world began." Acts 3:19-21.
27. According to the view of the judgment presented to Daniel, what is to be given
to Christ while still before the Father?
"I saw. . . and, behold, one like the Son of man came . . . to the Ancient of
days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory,
and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him."
Dan. 7:13,14.
28. What will occur when the Lord descends from heaven?
"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then
we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet
the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:16,17.
29. What statement immediately following the announcement mentioned in Rev. 22:11,
indicates that a judgment work had been in progress before Christ comes?
"And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man
according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12.
NOTE.-The typical sanctuary service is fully met in the work of Christ. As the
atonement day of the former dispensation was really a day of judgment, so the atonement
work of Christ will include the investigation of the cases of His people prior to His
coming the second time to receive them unto Himself.
30. Is there a specified time for the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary?
"And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the
sanctuary be cleansed." Dan. 8:14.
31. How may one know that this does not refer to the earthly sanctuary?
"He said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be
the vision." Verse 17.
NOTE.-The prophetic period of 2300 days (years) extends to 1844 A.D., while the
divinely appointed services of the earthly sanctuary ceased at the cross (Dan. 9:27; Matt.
27:50,51), and the sanctuary itself was destroyed in 70 A.D., when Titus captured
Jerusalem. For explanation of the period here mentioned, see the preceding reading.