The heavenly tabernacle
But Christ has appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come. In the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation), he entered the most holy place once for all time, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. Hebrews 9:11-12 CSB
From the text, the writer of Hebrews repeats what he introduced in 9:7 where Jess entered the Most Holy Place. The past few days, we have seen in detail the old covenant and the main area where it lacked power: the ability to provide eternal redemption. Therefore, Christ has “appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come.” Christ is the High Priest of the new covenant, established in a place that will never physically deteriorate, heaven, a “more perfect tabernacle not made with hands.” The good things to come is the blessings provided by Christ through His sacrificial death on the cross. Although these blessings are provided by Him, not everyone has accepted them as we will see later in Hebrews 10. Christ then entered “the most Holy Place once for all time.” We have seen previously that the high priest of the old covenant had to enter in every year. Christ’s work was done once and is now forever in the presence of the Father, being our Mediator forever on our behalf. He accomplished this work “not by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood.” Jesus poured Himself out as the perfect sacrifice, the blood of the Savior. And again, it was a single offering done once and was perfect for “eternal redemption.” Thomas Lea writes, “All of Jesus’ work for our salvation occurred at the cross.” Generations of priests worked on the behalf of the people, offering animal sacrifices and performed rituals within the tabernacle and temple daily, all pointing to the eventual work of Christ done once on the cross. He is now seated in heaven with the Father, after providing the path of redemption for His creation. The tabernacle Moses built and God filled with His glory is different from the tabernacle “more perfect…not made with hands.” The only thing now is to respond to this completed gift of salvation. Once we repented of our sin and recognized Him the Lord of our lives, we now have an unfettered access to His throne of grace. Christ opened the veil that separates man and God. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
Blessings,
Isaac De Guzman
