Bible Verse of the day Friday October 13th, 2023

Hebrews 8:5 They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.

The gospel message is so simple that even a child can understand it. Still, it is tough for people steeped in the Hebrew tradition to come to terms with what the Bible teaches: that there is neither Jew nor Gentile in the Body of Christ, but we are all one new person in Him.

 

The Tabernacle Moses built, the Aaronic priesthood, and all the gifts and sacrifices offered in ancient days were temporary. They were an earthly representation of the faithful, permanent Tabernacle in heaven and the eternal, heavenly Priesthood after the order of Melchizedek, where Jesus Christ serves as our holy, sacred High Priest.

 

God gave Moses specific instructions on how to build the earthly Tabernacle on Mount Sinai. The Lord commanded him to make an exact copy of the heavenly Tabernacle. He was given a perfect pattern of the holy Temple and charged for copying it and constructing it on earth: "Be careful that you make everything according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain," was God's solemn warning to His servant Moses.

The earthly construction, the priesthood, the sacrifices, the articles, and the implements were to be an exact copy of the superior things in the heavenly Holy Place. The earthly structure and service were to be a mere shadow of all that took place in the heavenly Tabernacle. The priestly ordinances and services established by Moses were to act as a picture of the sacraments, ceremonies, and all that takes place in the high, holy, heavenly realm.

 

Although the Tabernacle Moses erected in the wilderness was also a template for the future Temple, it was a mere copy. It was a small shadow and an inferior version of the heavenly Sanctuary where Christ today officiates as our great, holy High Priest. The earthly copy was to serve as a reminder. It was a subordinate copy and an earthly shadow of the heavenly reality.

 

The glory of the heavenly Sanctuary far surpasses that of the earthly one, but how many of us allow Satan to tempt us to forsake the actual reality of the heavenly place and hide back in the shadows of Old Testament Judaism? The veil has been torn from top to bottom, opening the heavenly things to whosoever will believe in Christ.

 

Old Testament institutions were a mere copy, a small shadow, a temporary type, and an inferior version of the higher, heavenly, spiritual, eternal reality. The Law and prophets pointed us to Christ, the Author of the heavenly Tabernacle. He serves in a permanent Temple with a superior Priesthood, which provides a divine inheritance. In Him, we have an everlasting reality with a better sacrifice, for Christ Jesus presented His shed blood on the sacrificial altar in the true Sanctuary above so that by faith in Him, we are forgiven of our sins and made one with Christ.

 

How sad to see people so steeped in Old Testament tradition that they seek after an earthly shadow rather than the heavenly reality. The Law, the Prophets, and Old Testament Scriptures were all given by the inspiration of God and profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. Still, they point us to Christ, our heavenly High Priest, and the heavenly Tabernacle: "For they serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things."