Slices
Prepare
‘Faith is confidence in what we hope for…’ (Hebrews 11:1a, NIV). Pray for a confident and courageous faith.
Bible passage
The high priest of a new covenant
8 Now the main point of what we are saying is this: we do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.
3 Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4 If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 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.’ 6 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.
Explore
The ‘true tabernacle’ (v 2) isn’t ‘true’ in opposition to false, but as the ultimate fulfilment of an earlier ‘shadow’ or type. This is in much the same way that Jesus is ‘true bread’ (John 6:32) – bread temporarily satisfies physical hunger, but Jesus permanently satisfies a far deeper hunger.
‘These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ’ (Colossians 2:17, NIV). In Jesus, who ‘made his dwelling’ (literally, tabernacled) among us (John 1:14), we have the superior sacrifice of a superior servant serving in a superior sanctuary. The ‘shadows’ (tabernacle, sacrificial system, priesthood) were signposts, guiding our journey; their fulfilment is Jesus, the guide who is also our destination. Shadows can be distorted by factors such as distance or light; hence the warning to Moses to be faithful to the ‘pattern’ (v 5).
Our journey from shadow to substance is marked by struggle because heavenly realities elude the senses. Faith is a way of seeing. The unseen is no less real and relevant, but spiritual realities must be received, and responded to, by faith rather than sight (2 Corinthians 5:7, NIV).
Respond
‘Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy’ (1 Peter 1:8, NIV). Pray for this kind of love and joy.
Deeper Bible study
‘We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.’1
In 7:28, our author has mentioned our perfect High Priest, the Son of God; now, in 8:1, he pauses to summarise: ‘We do have such a high priest’ (italics added)! Picture the writer making a rope in these chapters: there are at least six strands to this rope: we have a perfect High Priest, in a better tent/sanctuary, with a more excellent ministry, who has offered one perfect sacrifice and a new covenant based on better promises. Again and again in these chapters, one strand or another of this wonderful rope rises into view.
In today’s reading I focus on the sanctuary which Moses was commanded to build in the wilderness. Have I ever read the extraordinary double narrative (the instructions and then the construction) in Exodus 25–40? The tent was utterly splendid, with much gold and silver and bronze. Today’s reading tells me that this tabernacle was only a copy and a shadow of the true God-made heavenly tent to which our Lord has gone on our behalf. No Jewish priest would ever have dreamt of sitting (!) on the mercy-seat, which was central in the holiest place in the tabernacle or Temple, but Jesus has taken his seat at the right hand of the Majesty! There were no seats in the tabernacle, because the work was never finished. Our Lord’s heavenly session means that he has finished his work; it does not mean he has been doing nothing ever since the Ascension.
The Christian religion has no geographical pilgrimage centre. Christians are not building conservationists, although I might appropriately consider if our sanctuary is as beautiful as it can be. Our Lord’s church is a body of people, not a building; we are its ‘living stones’.2
I praise you, Lord, for your heavenly intercession on our behalf; and I pray today for my neighbouring ‘living stones’!
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: 2 Samuel 17,18; Psalms 52–54
Pray for Scripture Union
Please pray for the recruitment of a primary school’s worker to join the team of local mission partner Engage in Woking, who has the heart, passion, gifting and vision. Pray too for the continued growth of Christian Unions in Woking.
