Cleansed by the blood, Washed in the Word
1 John 1:7 The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
The blood is central to the sanctuary service
Hebrews 9:22-23 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
John 1: 29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Jesus by His life and death on the cross fulfilled the ministry represented by the Sanctuary’s courtyard. He came to be the sinners sacrifice. He came to be the Lamb of God. No longer do people need to offer an animal to God when they sin. Jesus, the Lamb of God, is our sacrifice.
The Laver of Washing
Now before we move on to the sanctuary itself, there is one other item in the courtyard that we need to take a look at, and that is the laver of washing.
Exodus 30:18-21 You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base also of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar. And you shall put water in it, for Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in water from it. When they go into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to the LORD, they shall wash with water, lest they die. So they shall wash their hands and their feet, lest they die. And it shall be a statute forever to them-to him and his descendants throughout their generations.
When we come to Jesus, confessing our sins, the promise is that not only are we forgiven our sins but we are also cleansed from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
This cleansing is spoken of in Titus 3:5 as “the washing of regeneration,” or as it may also be translated, “the washing of recreation,” for we are to be made a new creature, a new creation in Christ.
A New Creation
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
In other words, Jesus is not offering us a mere bandage fix to our sin problems, but it is His design to completely recreate us. He does not plan to simply patch up the old sinner, but to recreate you as a whole new person in Christ.
A Kingdom of Priests
The priests as they came to minister in the Sanctuary were to first wash themselves in the Laver of Washing before they performed any of the work of the Sanctuary. Likewise, we must ourselves be washed and made clean before we can effectually minister to others, bringing them to Jesus, for it is God’s purpose that we as Christians are to be to Him as a kingdom of Priests ministering to the world.
Exodus 19: 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
1 Peter 2:5,9 You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. … But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Washed in the Word
Just as the priests of Israel needed to wash themselves daily as they served in the Sanctuary, we also, so long as we live in a sin polluted world, need to a daily washing as we go about ministering to others. And what is this water in which we are to wash ourselves daily? It is the Word of God. Said Jesus to His disciples;
John 15:3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
And again, it is written of Christ’s church;
Ephesians 5:26 That He [Jesus] might sanctify and cleanse her [the church] with the washing of water by the word.
John 13:3-15 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean.” So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.”
Just as the feet of the disciples, though they had bathed, needed to be washed after walking the dusty streets of Jerusalem, so we also, though washed with the “washing of regeneration” (Titus 3:5) need to be refreshed and cleansed by the water of the Word as we go about ministering to others in this sin filled world.
Titus 3:5-6 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.
This is the message of the laver of washing.
The Holy Place
Now moving on from the courtyard – How does Jesus fulfill the ministry of the Holy Place?
Hebrews 9: 24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.
After slaying the lamb, the repentant sinner could only walk away, trusting by faith in a promised Redeemer that his sins were really forgiven and that he was cleansed of guilt. After the sacrifice was made the sinner could do no more for himself except to trust in the promises of God. Promises such as;
Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
However, the Sanctuary service on behalf of the sinner did not end at the Altar of Burnt Offerings, nor does the plan of salvation end at the cross. The cross, however, makes all the rest possible. Without the cross everything else would be impossible.
The Blood Ministry
Now begins the blood ministry of the priest on behalf of the sinner. The exact ritual varies depending on who sinned and what the sin was – and again, as previously noted in earlier posts, this is a somewhat simplified overview of sanctuary service. And also, as previously noted, for simplicity sake I will be using a lamb in my examples when speaking of the earthly services.
Typically, either directly or indirectly, the priest carries the blood of the sin offering into the Sanctuary – into the first chamber known as the Holy Place – and sprinkles the blood before the altar of Incense which stands before the veil dividing the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. Thus symbolically, a record of the sins of the people are carried and deposited inside the Sanctuary. This symbolic record of sins is representative of the books of record that the Bible tells us exist in heaven.
Daniel 7:10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
The Bible speaks of records that are kept in heaven, records that record our every act, our every thought, and even our motives. This book is spoken of in the Bible as the Book of Remembrance. There is also another book besides these that the Bible speaks of, and it is called the Book of Life.
As the sinner confessed his sin over the lamb he symbolically transferred his sin to the lamb. After the lamb was slain its blood was carried into the Holy Place of the Sanctuary and deposited before the Altar of Incense – a record of (and note this carefully), a record of CONFESSED SINS.
Only the sin that is confessed is brought into the Sanctuary
Only the sin that is confessed is covered by the ministration of Jesus our heavenly High Priest. As the Bible says;
Proverbs 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
And again;
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Once for All – The Fullness of Christ’s Ministry
In the services of the earthly Sanctuary there were many different kinds of sacrifices because no one single sacrifice was sufficient to illustrate all the fullness of Christ’s ministry. But in contrast, Jesus, who is the fulfillment of all these multitudes of sacrifices was offered only one time – once for all. And His one sacrifice was all sufficient.
Hebrews 7:27 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
Hebrews 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Hebrews 10:10-12 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.
An Unceasing Ministry
Day after day, year after year, century after century the endless offerings went on, each yearly round of ceremonies illustrating to the people the whole of God’s plan of salvation.
The building of the Sanctuary itself, as originally constructed by Moses, was an elaborate tent constructed of various fabrics and animal skins over a gold plated wooden frame. Inside the first veil which served as a doorway into the structure was the Holy Place. Here stood the seven branched candle stick, the Table of Shew Bread, and the Altar of Incense. Passing through the second veil you entered the Most Holy Place. Here was the Ark of the Covenant.
The ministry of the Holy Place (just like that of the courtyard) was continual, daily in nature. It never ceased, but continued year around – symbolic of Christ’s unceasing ministry on our behalf, symbolic of the constant availability of forgiveness, and of restoration, and of reconciliation.
The Blood Ministry of the Holy Place
And the ministry of the Holy Place, was also a blood ministry, as it is written;
1 John 1:7 The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
And as the earthly Sanctuary serves as an example and shadow, an illustration if you will, of heavenly things – Then we can expect to find in the heavenly Sanctuary a blood ministry that corresponds to the blood ministry of the earthly Sanctuary. And indeed, we do.
Hebrews 9: 11-14, 22-24 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?… And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.
A Heavenly Sanctuary
The Bible is explicit. A Sanctuary exists in heaven. Jesus is the High Priest of that heavenly Sanctuary. And all that was done in its earthly copy is symbolic of the reality that is accomplished for us in the heavenly.
Upon His ascension, Jesus entered into the Holy Place of the heavenly Sanctuary, where He intercedes for us. Hebrews 9:24 says He appears in the presence of God for us with His own blood. The work of the Holy Place symbolizes Christ’s work of perfect intercession. The Altar of Incense in the Holy Place represents Christ’s life of perfect righteousness. His perfect life is added as precious incense to the prayers of the God’s people as they ascend to heaven.
In the book of Revelation we are given glimpses of this heavenly sanctuary – and of Jesus as our High Priest. In Revelation 1 we see Jesus inside the Holy Place of the Sanctuary.
Revelation 1:12-13 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
Here Jesus is seen in that part of the heavenly Sanctuary containing the seven golden candlesticks – whose earthly counterpart was the seven branched candlestick in the Holy Place.
Moving on to chapter 8 we find activity in yet another part of the Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary.
Revelation 8:3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
This Altar of Incense (just like the Altar of Burnt Offering), also stands in a direct line between the repentant sinner and the law. In regard to the earthly service at this second altar, God says;
Exodus 30:1,7-8 And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it … And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it and when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.
[And by the way, – just a little side note – it was here by the Altar of Incense that the angel Gabriel announced to Zacharias that his wife Elizabeth would have a son, and that son was to grow up to be John the Baptist.]
Three Impassable Barriers
Again, it is important to note that in the wilderness sanctuary as God directed Moses to build it, thee barriers stood between the repentant sinner and the broken law. These were the Altar of Burnt Offering, the Laver of Washing and the Altar of Incense. All three stood in a direct line between the repentant sinner and the broken law. What we see here is the reality that Jesus, by virtue of His perfect life and sacrifice, stands between the repentant sinner and the broken law. The sinner is reconciled to God through the death of Christ and saved by His life;
Romans 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Jesus is not only He who died for us, but He is also the One who lives. Our God is a living God.
Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
The earthly Sanctuary and its services serve as a very accurate and reliable illustration of the heavenly Sanctuary and its services. By the understanding of the earthly in the light of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, we can understand the ministry of Jesus (our great heavenly High Priest) in the heavenly sanctuary.