Early in our ministry, I pastored a church where there was a fellow who had lots of visions. At least he said he did. Many of them seemed to lend themselves to exotic interpretations of the Book of Revelations. This really impressed some people.
As a 24-year-old pastor, I wasn’t so sure, but I would have loved to see a vision, especially of an angel. That would have been cool.
One night, though, when my wife and small children were away in Louisiana visiting her mother, I lay all alone in the bed in the dark bedroom. I thought, “I would like to see an angel, but not now.”
Have you ever noticed in the Bible that usually the first thing angels said to people when they showed up was, “Don’t be afraid.”
A Glimpse Of Heaven
I can wait until eternity to see angels, even so, if the Lord wanted to give me a glimpse of heaven, I wouldn’t complain. Actually, He has through the eyes Isaiah (chapter 6) and John.
“Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.” And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it.” (Revelation 4, NLT)
Rev. 15:5 shows us there is a temple in heaven. The earthly temple and the tabernacle in the desert were like copies modeled on this temple. Some estimate the gold in Moses’ desert tabernacle to be worth $10 to $40 million in today’s money. And Solomon’s temple? Some estimate that it would cost three to six billion dollars to build in our time!
(The reconstruction project of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris cost around $900 million).
Heaven’s Splendid Temple
If we valued earthly sanctuaries as much as this, how much would the heavenly temple be worth, a temple not of this creation, not made by human hands? That I would like to see.
God warned Moses to construct the Tabernacle exactly according to the pattern shown him of this much greater tabernacle — the temple in heaven. Imagine! If the earthly tabernacle, which was followed by the Temple, blazed in its opulence and glory, what must the heavenly temple be like?
The writer of Hebrews gives us a glimpse of this heavenly construction, but the temple isn’t the focal point. Let me try to imagine one special day in this temple: the High Priest, without his colorful robes and adornments but resplendent in his simple linen garments, enters as God the Father sits on His throne.
This High Priest carries His people in His heart and on His shoulders as He advances towards the throne with solemn, measured steps, bearing a vessel with His own blood. Did He sprinkle it on the temple furnishings? I think He must have knelt before His Father as He humbly offered His blood as a sacrifice for my sins, and yours.
Maybe a sweet aroma of incense filled the entire temple and did angelic choirs sing at the top of their lungs as all realized what was happening? The Son of God, Jesus the Christ, our Great High Priest, was offering the sacrifice He had made at the Cross. This would pay the price for Adam’s rebellion, for your sins, and for mine.
Once For All
Earthly high priests entered the earthly temple once a year with the blood of bulls and goats to cover our sins and his own, but this High Priest …! His sacrifice paid the price for our sins once and for all.
We were lost, but He reconciled us to Himself and to His Father by His sacrifice on the cross and His offering in the temple of heaven.
“So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.
“Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.” (Hebrews 9:11-15, NLT).
I don’t know about you, but that makes me want to stop and join the angels in praising the One who sacrificed all in order to bring us forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with the Father—our Great High Priest, Jesus.