To build up the faith of Jewish Christians, the author of Hebrews showed them how following Jesus was superior to the past regulations (and still is, I suppose) that were practiced in the tabernacle or temple.
It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Hebrews 9:23-26 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/heb.9.23-26.NIV
In all of this, there was a right time and a right place for entering into God’s presence, and yet Jesus was able to enter into God’s very presence (more special even than the earthly Holy of Holies). To be clear, this is not meant to put down the law of Moses and the practices of the tabernacle – not in the least! Those were given by God, after all, and they served both to teach and to point towards Jesus.
However, they were just copies, and – as we know – a copy of something is never as good as the original, right? (Once, I purchased some candy that I remembered from years ago, but it was being made by a new company as a throwback to the original. I ate it, and it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t as good as I remembered the original being.) In addition, if you had only known the copy, once you find the “original”, it’s not only pointless to go back to the copy: you may also find that the copy wasn’t going to deliver what you needed in the first place. (Just try spending a black-and-white photocopy of a $20 bill at the store, and see what happens!)
The blood of animal sacrifices could be used to cleanse the people and the tabernacle. Sacrifices offered by the priests outside of the Holy Place could call upon God’s forgiveness, as well as blood carried into the Most Holy Place by the high priest. However, those sacrifices could not make people perfect (peek ahead to Hebrews 10:1 for a confirmation of that!). Jesus Christ, though, offered a perfect sacrifice.
Because the tabernacle practices were copies of things in the spiritual realm, though, there are similarities. This is part of the role of the past law in teaching us. As usual, though, the “real thing” in Jesus was better in each case:
- The priests entered the Holy Place and the high priest entered the Most Holy Place, but those were just a copy. Jesus Christ entered heaven itself.
- The presence of God was in the tabernacle in a special way, but heaven is where He resides.
- The high priest approached the Seat of Atonement once a year to advocate on behalf of the people, but Jesus – after a one-time sacrifice that was good for all time – is at the right hand of God the Father, interceding for us “in real time”, we might say.
So, like those first-century Jewish Christians, let’s not try to go back to old copies of things that aren’t the real thing. Trying to earn our way back to Jesus won’t work. Trying to pay for our own sins with attempts at personal atonement or penance or self-sacrifice; well, at best those can be copies of what Jesus already achieved fully for us. So, stick with the real thing: accepting Jesus’ sacrifice for your sins and enjoying the freedom that He offers us, living the best possible life that we can in His will, and serving Him: out of our love for Him, out of our appreciation for what He has done, and out of our trust that His plan is better than ours or anyone else’s.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for March 15, 2026
References:
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – Hebrews, by Jim Girdwood and Peter Verkruyse. © 1997 College Press Publishing Co.
