“Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary” (Hebrews 9:1).
We can view our journey through the Biblical book of Hebrews much like a road trip that winds its way through a variety of landscapes. The current leg of our journey began in chapter eight and will continue into chapter ten, where the scene will change once again. But first, the author of Hebrews will guide us into the heart of the discussion he began in the previous chapter.
That conversation involved the Old and New Covenants, the Levitical priesthood, Jesus’ priestly ministry, and the earthbound Tabernacle that imitated the genuine article in heaven. Our author will advance that discussion here in chapter nine with a summary of the Tabernacle, as well as a few of the services that were performed there.
While the Old Testament Scriptures go into great detail regarding the Tabernacle and its ordinances, there are limits to our ability to analyze those subjects. This is something our author freely admits (Hebrews 9:5). Nevertheless, he will address certain aspects of those topics that allow him to make his point: “…[Jesus] has appeared once and for all, to remove sin through the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9:26 GNT).
Hebrews chapter nine also makes use of two words that are closely related: tabernacle and sanctuary. The word “tabernacle” appears fifteen times in the New King James Version of the New Testament and forty percent of those instances occur here in Hebrews chapter nine. Therefore, it is well worth the effort to familiarize ourselves with this important Biblical subject.
The tabernacle referenced in Hebrews chapter nine refers to the tent-like structure that served as God’s dwelling place following Israel’s departure from the nation of Egypt. Later in Israel’s history, this movable structure was replaced by Temple buildings that were far more permanent.
The word “sanctuary” identifies an area that is “set apart for God, to be as it were, exclusively his.” (1) While the word “sanctuary” may refer to the Tabernacle as a whole, it probably best applied to a specific portion of the Tabernacle. Our author will provide us with a descriptive analysis of that area later in this chapter.
Finally, the Old Covenant mandated a substantial number of regulations (CSB), ordinances (KJV), and rules (GW) in regard to the Tabernacle. Our author will discuss some of those directives here in chapter nine as he continues to build his case for Christ as our great High Priest.
(1) G39 hagion Thayer’s Greek Definitions https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g39/kjv/tr/0-1/