The same Greek word as for holy places in Heb. 8:2. Here, however, it is singular and, hence, is rendered sanctuary. The sanctuary is the entire tabernacle (Exo. 25:8-9), including the first tabernacle, which is called the Holy Place (v. 2), and the second tabernacle, which is called the Holy of Holies (v. 3). See note Heb. 8:2^2b.

Regarding the place where the incense altar stood, there is apparently a discrepancy between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Exo. 30:6 says that the incense altar was put before the veil, i.e., outside the veil. This indicates clearly that the incense altar was put in the Holy Place, which is outside the veil, not in the Holy of Holies, which is within the veil. But here it says that the Holy of Holies has the incense altar. Therefore, most Christian teachers and Bible readers have thought that some error or misconstruction must somehow have occurred. But this is not so! The apparent discrepancy has great spiritual significance, as shown by the following points:

(1) The Old Testament record of the incense altar's location implies the closest relationship between the incense altar and the ark of the testimony, over which was the propitiatory cover, where God met with His people (Exo. 30:6). The record even says that the incense altar was set before the ark of the testimony, with no mention being made of the separating veil that stood between them (Exo. 40:5).

(2) 1 Kings 6:22 (ASV) says that the incense "altar...belonged to the oracle." The Hebrew word for oracle includes the meaning the speaking place of God. The oracle denotes the Holy of Holies, in which was the ark of the testimony with the propitiatory cover, where God spoke to His people. Thus, the Old Testament indicated beforehand that the incense altar belonged to the Holy of Holies. (Though the incense altar was in the Holy Place, its function was for the ark of the testimony in the Holy of Holies. On the Day of Propitiation, both the incense altar and the propitiatory cover of the ark of the testimony were sprinkled with the same blood for propitiation — Exo. 30:10; Lev. 16:15-16.) Hence, in Exo. 26:35 only the showbread table and the lampstand are mentioned as being in the Holy Place; the incense altar is not mentioned.

(3) The incense altar is related to prayer (Luke 1:10-11), and in this book we are shown that to pray is to enter the Holy of Holies (Heb. 10:19) and to come to the throne of grace, which is signified by the propitiatory cover over the ark of the testimony in the Holy of Holies. Our prayer often begins with our mind, which is a part of our soul, signified by the Holy Place. But our prayer always ushers us into our spirit, signified by the Holy of Holies.

(4) On account of all the above points, the writer of this book had to consider the incense altar as belonging to the Holy of Holies. Verse 4 does not say that a golden altar was in the Holy of Holies, as the lampstand and the table were in the Holy Place (v. 2). It says that the Holy of Holies had a golden altar, because the altar belonged to the Holy of Holies. This concept fits the entire emphasis of the book of Hebrews, i.e., that we should press on from the soul (signified by the Holy Place) to the spirit (signified by the Holy of Holies).

The incense altar belongs to the oracle — the speaking place of God, i.e., the Holy of Holies. The incense altar typifies Christ in His resurrection as the sweet and fragrant incense, in which God extends to us His well-pleased acceptance. We pray with such a Christ in order to contact God that God may be pleased to speak to us. We speak to God in our prayer with Christ as the sweet incense, and God speaks to us in the sweet savor of this incense. This is the dialogue in the sweet fellowship between us and God through Christ as the sweet incense.

The Greek word here for altar can be translated censer. But here it refers to the incense altar, not the censer; according to the record of the Old Testament, there was no incense censer in the Holy Place or in the Holy of Holies.

The arrangement of the furniture of the tabernacle portrays our experience of Christ. In the outer court were the bronze altar and the bronze laver (Exo. 40:29-32). This signifies that our experience of Christ begins, in an outward sense, with His redemption, which was accomplished on the cross, and the cleansing of the Holy Spirit, which is based on Christ's redemption. In the Holy Place were the showbread table and the lampstand, with the incense altar located close to the Holy of Holies, in front of the ark of the testimony. The showbread table signifies our experience of Christ as our life supply, and the lampstand, our experience of Christ as the shining light. These experiences are rather inward, in the intellect and consciousness of our being. The incense altar signifies our experience of Christ as the sweet incense ascending to God. This experience is deeper and more inward, leading to the deepest and most inward experiences, in the Holy of Holies. In the Holy of Holies was the ark of the testimony, in which were the golden pot containing the hidden manna; Aaron's budding rod; and the tablets of the covenant. The hidden manna in the golden pot signifies our experience of Christ as our life supply in the deepest way, an experience much deeper than that signified by the showbread table in the Holy Place. The budding rod signifies our experience of Christ in His resurrection as our acceptance by God for authority in the God-given ministry. This is deeper than the experience of Christ as the incense for our acceptance by God. The tablets of the covenant, which are the tablets of the ten commandments, signify our experience of Christ as the enlightening inner law, which regulates us according to God's divine nature. This is deeper than the experience of Christ as the shining lampstand in the Holy Place. All these deepest experiences of Christ take place in our spirit, signified by the Holy of Holies.

See note Rom. 3:25^2a.

Lit., ignorances. The word refers to those sins that are committed in ignorance of God's law; hence, they are sins of ignorance (Lev. 4:2, 13, 22, 27; 5:17-18).

The first tabernacle, the Holy Place, signifies the old covenant, and the second tabernacle, the Holy of Holies, signifies the new covenant. The veil that closed off the Holy of Holies was rent (Matt. 27:51) by the death of Christ, which crucified the flesh (Heb. 10:20; Gal. 5:24), and now the way of the Holy of Holies has been manifested. Hence, we do not need to remain in the Holy Place, i.e., the old covenant, the soul; we must enter into the Holy of Holies, i.e., the new covenant, the spirit. That is the goal of this book.

Or, symbol, type; lit., parable.

See note Heb. 5:1¹.

Lit., baptisms; as in Heb. 6:2 (see note Heb. 6:2^1a).

Or, reformation, putting in order, setting things straight. The time of setting things right occurred at Christ's first coming, when He fulfilled all the shadows of the Old Testament that a new covenant might replace the old. This is a right arrangement, a right ordering. Hence, it is a reformation. This is different from the restoration in Acts 3:21, which will occur at Christ's second coming.

Some ancient MSS read, the good things to come.

Christ accomplished redemption on the cross (Col. 1:20), but it was not until He entered into the heavenly Holy of Holies through the redeeming blood, i.e., when He brought His redeeming blood to offer it before God, that He obtained the redemption that has an eternal effect.

In the old covenant the blood of goats and calves only made propitiation for people's sins (Lev. 16:15-18); it never accomplished redemption for their sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (Heb. 10:4). In Hebrew the root of the word for propitiation means to cover. Thus, to make propitiation means to cover sins; it does not mean to take away sins. Since Christ as the Lamb of God took away the sin of the world (John 1:29) by offering Himself once for all on the cross as the sacrifice for sins (v. 14; 10:12), His blood, which He sprinkled in the heavenly tabernacle (Heb. 12:24), has accomplished an eternal redemption for us, even the redemption of the transgressions under the first (old) covenant (v. 15), transgressions that were only covered by animal blood. Thus, we have been redeemed with the precious blood of Christ (1 Pet. 1:18-19).

Lit., made common.

The blood of Christ was shed for the forgiveness of sins (Matt. 26:28), and the new covenant was consummated with it (Heb. 10:29; Luke 22:20). It accomplished an eternal redemption for us (v. 12; Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:18-19) and purchased the church for God (Acts 20:28). It washes us from our sins (1 John 1:7), purifies our conscience (v. 14), sanctifies us (Heb. 13:12), and speaks something better for us (Heb. 12:24). By this blood we enter the Holy of Holies (Heb. 10:19) and overcome Satan the accuser (Rev. 12:10-11). Therefore, it is precious and better than the blood of goats and bulls (vv. 12-13). We must value it highly and should not regard it a common thing, like animal blood. If we do, we will suffer God's punishment (Heb. 10:29-31).

On the cross Christ offered Himself to God in the human body (Heb. 10:5, 10), which was under the limitation of time. But He offered Himself through the eternal Spirit, who is of eternity and is not under the limitation of time. Hence, in the eyes of God, Christ as the Lamb of God was slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8). His offering of Himself was once for all (Heb. 7:27), and the redemption consummated through His death is eternal (v. 12), having an eternal effect. The span of His redemption fully covers the span of sin. See note Heb. 9:26^1c, par. 2.

The blood of Christ purifies our conscience to serve the living God. To serve the living God requires a blood-purified conscience. To worship in dead religion or to serve any dead thing, anything that is outside God, does not require our conscience to be purified. The conscience is the leading part of our spirit. The living God whom we desire to serve always comes to our spirit (John 4:24) by touching our conscience. He is righteous, holy, and living. Our defiled conscience needs to be purified that we may serve Him in a living way. To worship God in our mind in a religious way does not require this.

Since we were dead (Eph. 2:1; Col. 2:13), whatever we did, whether bad or good, was dead works before the living God.

This book does not teach religion; rather, it reveals the living God (Heb. 3:12; 9:14; 10:31; 12:22). To touch this living God we need to exercise our spirit (Heb. 4:12) and have a blood-purified conscience in our spirit.

I.e., transgressions reckoned as sins according to the standard of the provisions of the first covenant.

The promise of the eternal inheritance is based on Christ's eternal redemption, not on our work, and is different from the promise in Heb. 10:36, which is conditioned on our endurance and our doing the will of God. (See note Heb. 10:36^2b) The eternal inheritance in the promise here is through the eternal redemption of Christ, whereas the great reward (Heb. 10:35) in the promise in Heb. 10:36 is given by virtue of our endurance and our doing the will of God.

See note Heb. 10:34¹.

In Greek the same word is used for both covenant and testament. A covenant is an agreement containing some promises to accomplish certain things for the covenanted people, while a testament is a will containing certain accomplished things that are bequeathed to the inheritor. The new covenant consummated with the blood of Christ is not merely a covenant but a testament in which all the things that were accomplished by the death of Christ have been bequeathed to us. First, God gave the promise that He would make a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34). Then Christ shed His blood to enact the covenant (Luke 22:20). Since accomplished facts are promised in this covenant, it is also a testament. This testament, this will, was confirmed and validated by Christ's death and is being executed and enforced by Christ in His resurrection. The promise of God's covenant is insured by God's faithfulness; God's covenant is guaranteed by God's righteousness; and the testament is enforced by Christ's resurrection power.

See note Heb. 9:16¹.

Lit., over the dead.

The word implies the sense of newly enacted, inaugurated.

Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Without forgiveness of sins there is no way for the requirement of God's righteousness to be fulfilled that the covenant may be enacted. But Christ's blood was shed for the forgiveness of sins, and the covenant was enacted with His blood (Matt. 26:28).

The tabernacle and all things pertaining to it were sprinkled with and purified by the blood of goats and bulls (vv. 21-23). That was a figure showing that the heavenly things needed to be purified by the blood of better sacrifices, which are the sacrifices of Christ (Heb. 7:27; 9:14, 28; 10:10, 12, 14). Heaven and all things in heaven were defiled by the rebellion of Satan and the fallen angels, who followed Satan in his rebellion against God. So all the heavenly things needed to be purified. Christ accomplished this purification with His own blood when He entered into heaven itself (v. 24).

Christ offered Himself as the one sacrifice (v. 14; 10:12). This one sacrifice, viewed from its various aspects, can be considered many sacrifices. As Christ is the eternal Son of the living God incarnated to be the Son of Man, and as He offered Himself to God through the eternal Spirit, so His sacrifices, which are Himself, are better than the animal sacrifices. Those were shadows that could never remove sins (Heb. 10:11), but His sacrifices are real and have put away sin once for all (v. 26). Thus He obtained an eternal redemption for us (v. 12).

See note Heb. 8:2^2b.

Or, copy.

Or, completion of the ages, end of the ages. Here it means the end of the Old Testament age, whereas the consummation of the age in Matt. 28:20 refers to the close of the church age.

Christ was foreordained for us before the foundation of the world (1 Pet. 1:20), and He was slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8). Actually, His being slain occurred once for all at the consummation of the ages, when He offered Himself to God, in His first manifestation, for the putting away of sin. See note Heb. 9:14².

Or, laid up.

As man has to die once and be judged after dying, so Christ died once to bear man's sins (v. 28; 1 Pet. 2:24) and on the cross suffered judgment for man (Isa. 53:5, 11).

Since in His first appearing Christ put away sin (v. 26; 1 John 3:5), His second appearing will be apart from sin, having nothing to do with sin.

Salvation here means the redemption of our body and deliverance from the vanity and slavery of corruption of the old creation into the freedom of the glory of the children of God (Rom. 8:18-23; Phil. 3:20-21). This is to be glorified (Rom. 8:17, 30).