Hebrews 9:1-5 (HCSB)
Now the first covenant also had regulations for ministry and an earthly sanctuary. For a tabernacle was set up, and in the first room, which is called the holy place, were the lampstand, the table, and the presentation loaves. Behind the second curtain, the tabernacle was called the most holy place. It contained the gold altar of incense and the ark of the covenant, covered with gold on all sides, in which there was a gold jar containing the manna, Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. The cherubim of glory were above it overshadowing the mercy seat. It is not possible to speak about these things in detail right now.
The writer of Hebrews is continuing to build his case for the superiority of the New Covenant over the Old, and for the high priesthood of Jesus over the Levitical high priesthood. Now he turns his attention to the sanctuary.
God gave Moses the plans for the sanctuary, its contents and its courtyards on the mountain (Exodus 25-27, and 30) and, since it was a model of the heavenly tabernacle and a foreshadowing of the New Covenant, God insisted that he make it precisely according to the plans He gave him, not deviating the slightest in any detail. The temple that was constructed by Solomon more than 500 years later, and that was rebuilt after the Babylonian exile, used the same proportions, but everything was expanded and made even more grand and impressive.
The Tabernacle had a walled off outer court containing the main altar and the washbasins. Only the priests and Levites were allowed to enter this courtyard. People brought their sacrifices to the gate of the courtyard and handed them to a priest or Levite who actually made the sacrifices on their behalf.
The tabernacle itself had two sections. The larger section, the holy place, was rectangular, and contained the seven-armed lampstand that was kept lit continually before the Lord, and, on the opposite side, the gold table that held twelve loaves of unleavened bread, that were changed out weekly.
This larger section was separated from the smaller square “Most Holy Place”, or “Holy of Holies” by a curtain on which were embroidered cherubim, symbolically guarding the way into God’s presence. The smaller room held the ark of the covenant topped with two solid gold cherubim facing each other, guarding the mercy seat. The ark contained the second set of stone tablets on which God had engraved the Ten Commandments with his own finger, (Moses having smashed the first set of tablets in disgust over the golden calf incident (Exodus 32:19, 34:1-4, 28), an omer of manna in a jar (Exodus 16:33-34), and the rod of Aaron that had budded, confirming his calling to the high priesthood (Exodus 17:1-11), although by the time of Solomon, all that was left in it were the stone tablets (1 Kings 8:9).
Just inside the curtain of the Most Holy Place was the golden altar of incense. When the high priest entered, he would first burn some incense, making a cloud of smoke that filled the small room, obscuring and dimming the sight of the ark, illustrating both the fact that people only see God dimly, as through a haze of smoke, and that the people were forbidden to look directly at His glory.
Father, it’s amazing to me how much symbolism You have always used in Your interactions with Your people. It seems like the key reason is that there is so much about You that just won’t fit inside our finite human brains. So, symbolism allows us to get a glimpse, a taste of who You are and what You are doing. The danger, of course, is to mistake this glimpse for the total, to believe that, since we can grasp the edges of the symbols, that we fully understand the reality behind them. Help me, Lord, to never make that mistake, but to continually stand in awe and amazement in your presence, and to seek to honor all of You in everything I think, do, and say. Amen.