Tent Pitched by God
Jesus intercedes without ceasing for his people in the true heavenly Tabernacle, one not made with human hands. In the gospel
of John, Jesus is the true Tabernacle where God dwells. Unlike the
ancient structure with its inner sanctuary that only the high priest could
enter, now, in Christ, His glory is visible for all men to see. No longer is
His presence limited by physical walls and geographic boundaries.
In Jesus of Nazareth, the Father and the
Creator of all things is worshipped anywhere and anytime “in spirit and
truth.”
What was foreshadowed in the ancient Tabernacle
and the later Temple building finds its substance in Jesus Christ, the Logos,
the “word made flesh.”
The epistle to the Hebrews also
presents the true significance of the Tabernacle but from a different
perspective. In its imagery, Jesus is not the tent itself but the greater high
priest who now ministers in the true and greater Tabernacle “not made with hands.”
THE TRUE TENT
According to the letter, after “achieving the
purification of sin,” the Son “sat down on
the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.”
This last clause alludes to Psalm 110:1. But in Hebrews,
it not only applies it to his enthronement as king over the cosmos but also to
his appointment as the High Priest who now mediates for his people in the “real
tabernacle,” and in the very presence of God Himself - (Hebrews 1:3-4,
8:1).
The image in the letter is based not on the Temple
complex in the city of Jerusalem, but on the “tent” or “tabernacle”
that Israel carried during its wilderness sojourn. This is clear not only from
the use of the Greek noun, skéné or “tent,” but also by the description
- “which the Lord pitched.”
One “builds” a temple complex, but a tent is “pitched.”
The distinction is important since the epistle is
stressing the transitoriness of the earthly “sanctuary” in contrast to the
permanence of its heavenly counterpart. And in Hebrews, all historical references
to the “sanctuary” refer to the ancient Tabernacle, the “tent of
meeting.”
THE TRUE PRIEST
- “Now in the things which we are saying the chief point is this: We have such a high priest who sat down on 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 pitched, not man”– (Hebrews 8:1-2).
And the priestly Son serves his people in the “sanctuary,”
which translates the noun naos. In the New Testament, naos normally
refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle or Temple, the “most holy
place” or Holy of Holies.”
But in the structure of the sentence, “sanctuary”
and “real tent” refer to one and the same thing, and “pitched” is
in the singular number since only one structure is “pitched by the Lord.”
In other words, the “sanctuary” or “holy
place” and the “tent” are one and the same. The old distinction
between the inner and outer courts of the Tabernacle does not exist in the “true
Tabernacle.” This becomes clearer in chapter 9 of the epistle.
SHADOW vs SUBSTANCE
And the ancient Tabernacle was a mere “copy and
shadow” of the true and greater Tabernacle where our High Priest ministers for
us. And the author of Hebrews cites Scripture to demonstrate this
reality. After all, Moses was commanded to construct a copy of the heavenly sanctuary
shown to him by Yahweh – (Hebrews 8:3-5).
Moreover, Moses did not see the actual heavenly sanctuary but its “pattern.” In short, Moses made a copy of a copy. This is not said to denigrate Moses or anything that God gave to Israel, but to stress the vast superiority of the Son over all that preceded him.
At this point, the epistle introduces the subject
of the “new covenant” promised in the book of Jeremiah. Just as
Jesus holds a superior priesthood and ministers in the “real tent,” so
he also offers better sacrifices and inaugurated a “better covenant.”
The references to the “former covenant”
refer not to the one made with Abraham, but to the Mosaic legislation that
included the Aaronic priesthood, animal sacrifices, the Tabernacle, and its
various rituals. The very fact that the “new covenant” has commenced means
the old system, including its “ordinances of divine service,” is rendered
obsolete – (Hebrews 8:7-9:1).
The author then treats the ancient Tabernacle as
if it consisted of two separate tents. In the old structure, there was the
outer court, the “first” tent that housed the “lampstand, the table, and the showbread,”
namely, the “Holy place.” Beyond the “veil” or “curtain”
was the inner sanctuary, the “second tent,” the “Holy of holies.”
It contained the “golden altar of incense and
the ark of the covenant.”
The priests ministered daily in the “first”
tent, making offerings and animal sacrifices. However, only the high priest
could enter the “second” or inner tent, and only once each year on the
Day of Atonement – (Hebrews 9:2-7).
FREE ACCESS
Thus, the structure of the old Tabernacle demonstrates
graphically that the “way into the Holy of holies” remained obscure while
the outer court was still “standing.” Only the High Priest could access
it (“the Holy Spirit this signifying”).
But the Tabernacle with this twofold structure is a “figure,” a “type and shadow” in the present age of something more profound and quite permanent.
The goal of God’s redemptive plan is not for every
Israelite to enter the inner sanctuary in the earthly sanctuary, but to attain
access for men from every nation to the “throne of grace” in the true
and greater “Tabernacle.” The sacrifices and rituals of the old system can
never achieve the “purification of sins” necessary to enter the
sanctuary or make the individual worshipper “complete” and his consciousness
clean.
In contrast to the old system, as our High Priest,
Jesus approached the divine throne through the “greater and more complete tabernacle, one not made with hands, not of this creation,” and he did so “once for all” and applied
his own blood to remove the stain of sin, thus opening the way into the Divine
presence for all men.
And with him now ministering “evermore” as
the High Priest of his people, every member of the new covenant community has
free access to the “throne of grace.”
Unlike the old Tabernacle with its multiple
offerings and sacrifices, he entered the true and greater “Tabernacle” “pitched”
by God and not by man, and there he remains mediating and interceding daily for his people.
Some members of the congregation were contemplating returning to the local synagogue to escape increasing pressure. But to now abandon all that Jesus has provided by returning to an obsolete sacrificial system and transitory sanctuary would be foolhardy in the extreme.
