Enter into the Holiest

In Hebrews 9, Paul described how the high priest in ancient Israel went into the Holy of Holies once a year on the Day of Atonement.  He described how multiple priests went into the “first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people.”  This was the holiest place of all for the Israelites, comparable to the most sacred places in our temples today, and Paul emphasized that “the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing” (Hebrews 9:6-8).  In other words, the average Israelite could not enter into the Holy of Holies or the figurative presence of God.  Though the high priest entered to offer sacrifice for his own and the people’s sins, the Israelites could not be there in this most holy place. 

               Paul’s message, then, was that the ultimate sacrifice of Christ forever changed this restriction.  Unlike the high priest, Christ only had to make the sacrifice once, and the sacrifice was Himself: “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: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with the blood of others… but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9:24-26).  Christ did not enter into the earthly tabernacle; rather He offered His own blood and entered into the heavenly tabernacle where God dwells.  He did not need to continue making sacrifices like the high priest but provided an infinite sacrifice once that pays the price of sin for all mankind.  He opened the way for all of us to enter in to the most holy of places—the presence of God.  The gospel writers mentioned the fact that when Christ died, “the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to bottom” (Matt. 27:51).  This was the veil that guarded the people from entering into the holy places, but no more would it do that.  Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection broke the bands of death to open the way for us all. 

               Because Christ rent the veil for all of us, we can, through His cleansing power, come unto the Father.  Paul invited us to do so in these words: “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh” (Hebrews 10:19-20).  We can indeed enter into the holiest place with boldness if we do so by the blood of Christ.  We can now go “though the veil” because the Savior gave His flesh up for us.  We can, as Paul wrote, “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).  Because of our great high priest who gave His own blood as the sacrifice for all mankind, we can all pass through the veil of this life and one day enter into the presence of the Lord.