The Vision of the Tabernacle |
From Glory to Glory |
We can see the same principle regarding the access into the Holy of Holies. No man could enter there because the cherubim over the ark were there reminding sinful man that he was not able to fulfill God’s righteous requirements. Furthermore, there were also cherubim embroidered on the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. This represents God’s glory, and because man has fallen short of God’s glory, he cannot draw near to Him. Aaron’s two sons, Nadab and Abihu, died when they entered the sanctuary with strange fire (Lev. 10:1-13). The fire, indicating God’s holiness, which they had stained, came out from the Holy of Holies and consumed them. Also in the ark in the Holy of Holies was the law of God showing His righteousness.
As we have seen, man was prevented from drawing near to the Holy of Holies for the same reason that he was prevented access to the tree of life: he did not live according to the standard of God’s holiness, righteousness and glory. However, through the Lord’s all-inclusive death on the cross, all of God’s demands of righteousness, holiness and glory were completely fulfilled. Hallelujah!
Firstly, His redeeming death satisfied the demands of God’s glory. When Christ died, the veil on which the cherubim were embroidered was split from top to bottom, indicating that the separation between God and man had been removed (Matt. 27:50-51). In addition, God’s holiness was satisfied by Christ’s death because we were made holy through the offering of Christ (Heb. 10:10). Finally, the death of Christ also honored God’s righteousness because Christ was made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21).
When we enter the Holy of Holies we enjoy the glory of God, and this enjoyment causes us to mature spiritually. However, in order to contact God’s glory, we firstly have to satisfy His righteousness and holiness. We do this through the blood on the altar of burnt offering. Through the blood we are reconciled to God and can enter the Holy Place and afterwards, enter into the glory of God in the Holy of Holies.
It seems that only Aaron the high priest could enter into the Holy of Holies once a year, but actually, Moses could enter at any time and speak to God face to face. The Holy of Holies was filled with the glory of God and because of this, Moses’ face shone when he spoke to God (Exo.34:29). The more he conversed with God, the more Moses’ face shone, but when he went out from the Holy of Holies he put a veil on his face because the glory was fading away.
A good illustration that can help us to understand this process is someone seated near a bonfire. Because of being close to the fire, the face of that person becomes hot and red but when he goes away, his face returns to its normal color. The same thing happened to Moses. While he was beholding God’s glory, his face became shining. But because it was something merely external, something that happened outside of Moses, the glory faded from his face when he went out from the Holy of Holies.
In contrast, as ministers of the new covenant we are different from Moses, thanks to the fact that the veil has been split. Today we can continually behold the Lord in our spirit and receive more of His glory. Our face is unveiled; there is nothing between us and the Lord because He has accomplished redemption. We can behold and reflect Him like a mirror. In this way our glory does not fade like that of Moses but rather we progress from one degree of glory to another degree of glory (2 Cor. 3:18). The more fellowship we have with God, the more of His glory we have.
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