The Holy Place, and the Holy One: Our Redeemer (Exodus 26)

The Holy Place, and the Holy One: Our Redeemer (Exodus 26)

Scripture reading - Exodus 26



The LORD had given Moses instructions to speak to “every man” to “bring an offering…willingly with his heart” (Exodus 25:1-2). So then, leaving no detail unstated, God required specific materials for His sanctuary (Exodus 25:3-7) that included “gold, and silver, and brass” (Exodus 25:3). Various colors of linen were required (Exodus 25:4), as well as dyed skins of rams and badgers (Exodus 25:5), oil, spices, and precious stones (Exodus 25:6-7).

Moses was also given the pattern and design for constructing the Tabernacle and the Ark (Exodus 25:8-28). The Scriptures provide us a description of the instruments that were to be fashioned (Exodus 25:29) and the furniture that would be required for the interior of the Tabernacle, including “a candlestick [lampstand] of pure gold” (Exodus 25:30-40).





There were four coverings for the Tabernacle. The first covering was made with ten curtains “of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with [cherubim] of cunning work” (Exodus 26:1) woven into the fabric. This beautiful fabric served as the interior ceiling of the Tabernacle (Exodus 26:1-6).









“The Holy Place and the Most Holy” (Exodus 26:33-34)  

Consider the innermost room of the Tabernacle, the holy place that lay beyond the veil where the Ark of the Covenant was placed (Exodus 26:33). This room represented heaven and God’s presence amid His people. The Mercy Seat of the Ark represented God’s throne. The veil separating the outer chamber of the Tabernacle from the holy place was a reminder of the great divide between sinners and the LORD (Exodus 26:34). No man, but the high priest, could enter or look into the holy place, and that was only once a year. As the mediator of Israel, the high priest would bear the blood of a lamb sacrificed for the people's sins, and He would sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat.

There is no Tabernacle, no Holy Place, and no Ark today.

The Tabernacle, the Holy Place, and the Ark were temporary symbols and testimonies for their day (Hebrews 9:8-9). They were reminders of the sinner’s need for a mediator between himself and God, who is holy and cannot tolerate sin in His presence. (Psalm 89:18; Isaiah 6:3; 43:15; 57:15; Revelation 4:8; 6:10; 15:4)

Christ’s death on the Cross, His atoning blood, and resurrection from the dead removed the need for those temporary symbols. Indeed, when Christ died on the Cross, the temple's veil was rent in two (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38). The requirement of atoning blood was fulfilled by Christ shedding His blood. His death, burial, and resurrection are a lasting testimony of the sufficiency of His sacrifice for our sins (2 Corinthians 3:18).



Jesus Christ became the believer’s “High Priest” (Hebrews 9:11) and Mediator, for He “entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Hebrews 9:12). “He is the mediator of the new testament [covenant], that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that…[we] might receive the promise of eternal inheritance” (Hebrews 9:15).





Copyright © 2023 – Travis D. Smith

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