Category: The Life



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.

 


Jesus Is The Life

Our initial premise has been that in order to develop a closer relationship with Jesus we must to come to a better understanding of His statement: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” In our previous writings we have been successful in connecting this statement to the Tabernacle built by Moses. The core of this case can be demonstrated by looking at the diagram below. What you should be able to see there is that the entry points to the chambers of the Tabernacle are called: “the Way, the Truth and the Life.”

This picture along with additional information about it can be found by referencing the following link: http://www.tgm.org/URTheTempleOfHS.html

Our writings to date we have addressed the Court of the Tabernacle which is entered through the Way, and the Holy Place, which is entered through the Truth. We now turn our attention to the Most Holy place which is entered through the Life. As in previous discussions, we will start by taking a detailed look at the structure and components of the Tabernacle.

Again, by looking at the chart above we can see that the Most Holy Place is separated from the Holy Place by the veil that is called “the Life”. Since there is no other entrance to the Most Holy Place it must be entered from the Holy Place (For more information about the Holy Place please reference Passing-from-the-Way-and-into-the-Truth/.)

The Most Holy Place is the very sacred dwelling place of God. Entry was restricted to the High Priest who could enter only once each year.

As we proceed we will present all the marvelous things that we find in the Life. We will then correlate their attributes, nature and purpose to the attributes, nature and purpose of Jesus.

So we begin our presentation with the proposition that Jesus’ claim to be “the Life” was a claim to be the veil of the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle. This being the case, then Jesus is stating that through Him we have access to the most sacred relationship possible with the Father, a relationship of covenant. Anyone who enters into the Most Holy Place enters into God’s covenant and therefore is cared for and protected by God. Here is a supporting scripture:

And He said: “Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you. Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I am driving out from before you the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),” (Exodus 34:10 – 14)

This preamble lays a foundation for a deeper look at the objects found in the Most Holy Place. We therefore plan to take a look at the Ark of the Covenant, which is foundational to God’s covenant relationship with man. More importantly, we will look at the objects found inside the Ark and present them in an effort to gain a deeper understanding of what this covenant is all about.

For example, we will investigate the covenant stones (upon which the Ten Commandments are transcribed) and find God’s law which is a part of the covenant agreement. We present the pot of manna that fed the nation during its journey through the wilderness. The pot represents God’s covenant of provision. Thirdly, we will introduce the Rod of Aaron which communicates God’s choice for a royal priesthood.

In addition, we will look at the covering of the Ark, namely the Golden Cherubim and the Mercy Seat. The Golden Cherubim represent the presence of angels to protect the covenant. The Mercy Seat is the place where God dwells and the place we man can talk to God face to face.

All of this will start with our next posting where we will start to build our case that the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle is prophetic of Christ Jesus.