Jesus the Most Holy Place

 

In an effort to better understand what Jesus meant when He claimed to be “the Way, the Truth and the Life” we have been presenting a case that proclaims that the Tabernacle is prophetic of Jesus. This case is partially based on the fact that there are three chambers in the Tabernacle and one is named the Way, another is named the Truth and the third is named the Life. This correlation has led us to examine the contents found in the chambers behind each of these passageways. To date we have presented our examination of the contents found in the first two chambers of the Tabernacle. We have contrasted their attributes, functions and characteristics to the life of Jesus. What we have found is that the attributes, functions and characteristics of these chambers precisely predict the life of Jesus. We have therefore declared Jesus to be the Way and the Truth, and now we are preparing to present the case that Jesus is the Life by presenting the third chamber, the one that is entered by passing through the Life. We will soon present the chamber of the Tabernacle that is called the Most Holy Place.

 

Prior to starting our investigation however, we would first like to present an overview of the Tabernacle and how it is organized. In part, this will also bring everyone up to speed on the material already covered. We will achieve this overview by using a scripture from the book of Exodus as a guide, inserting our comments at appropriate places to help the reader understand how the Tabernacle is prophetic of the Life of Jesus. So here is the first portion of the scripture:

 

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. You shall put in it the ark of the Testimony, and partition off the ark with the veil.

 

The Ark of the Testimony is also called the Ark of the Covenant. While we will cover it in more detail in subsequent sections let us provide an outline of it here. The Ark was a golden box which contained the Tablets of the Ten Commandments, the Pot of Manna and the Rod of Aaron. These objects represented various components of the covenant relationship with God. The Ten Commandments represented the laws that were to be followed for the people to remain in a covenant relationship with God. The Pot of Manna represented God’s provision to His people during their exit from the bondage of Egypt and their entry into the Promised Land. Finally, the Rod of Aaron represented God’s selection of Aaron as the royal priesthood for the Tabernacle.

 

As we progress in subsequent sections we will find is that Jesus is the Ark of the new covenant, one in which His sacrifice on the cross has paid the price of our transgressions. Therefore, using the model of the Tabernacle as a guide, our obligation is to do as He commanded us to do.

 

As we progress, we will also find that Jesus is our spiritual Pot of Manna. We find this to be true when we eat His body and drink His blood as He commanded us. Again, using the Tabernacle as a guide, He therefore is the source of our provision on our journey to the Promised Land.

 

In addition, we will also uncover that Jesus is our Rod of Aaron in that He is our new high priest, eliminating all of the priestly duties at the Tabernacle in His single sacrifice on the cross.

 

Summing up these three major aspects of the Most Holy Place we conclude that we as Christians must come through Jesus for our relationship with God. In Him is eternal Life.

 

Our next posting will summarize the material that we have already covered out the Tabernacle. Namely we will review what we have covered in our discussion of the Holy Place.