Copy of the Pattern Read ACCORDING TO ALL THAT I SHOW YOU, THAT IS, THE PATTERN OF THE TABERNACLE and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it. (Exo 25:9) And SEE TO IT THAT YOU MAKE THEM ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN which was shown you on the mountain. (Exo 25:40) who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, "SEE THAT YOU MAKE ALL THINGS ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN SHOWN YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN." (Heb 8:5) Therefore it was necessary that THE COPIES OF THE THINGS IN THE HEAVENS should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. (Heb 9:23) FOR CHRIST HAS NOT ENTERED THE HOLY PLACES MADE WITH HANDS, which are copies of the true, BUT INTO HEAVEN ITSELF, now to appear in the presence of God for us; (Heb 9:24) What is the relationship between the earthly and heavenly sanctuaries? The Scriptures clearly teach that Moses did not invent the tabernacle but built it according to the divine instruction that he had received on the mountain. And you shall raise up the tabernacle according to its pattern which you were shown on the mountain. (Exo 26:30), You shall make it hollow with boards; as it was shown you on the mountain, so shall they make it. (Exo 27:8), Now this workmanship of the lampstand was hammered gold; from its shaft to its flowers it was hammered work. According to the pattern which the LORD had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand. (Num 8:4). The earthly sanctuary was to be constructed after the “pattern” (ACCORDING TO ALL THAT I SHOW YOU, THAT IS, THE PATTERN OF THE TABERNACLE and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it. (Exo 25:9). And SEE TO IT THAT YOU MAKE THEM ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN which was shown you on the mountain. (Exo 25:40). The Hebrew word for “pattern” (tabnit) expresses the idea of a model or copy; thus, we can conclude that Moses saw some kind of miniature model that represented the heavenly sanctuary and that this model served as the pattern for the earthly. Therefore, the heavenly temple is the original, the model for the Israelite sanctuaries. What is also obvious is that we cannot equate the sanctuary in heaven with heaven itself. The heavenly temple is “in heaven” , "Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail". (Rev 11:19), Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. (Rev 14:17), After these things I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. (Rev 15:5); thus, heaven contains it. The two are not synonymous. The book of Hebrews explains in unmistakable terms that the heavenly sanctuary is real. The sanctuary in heaven is called the “true tabernacle” (Heb. 8:2, NKJV), as well as the “greater and more perfect tabernacle” (Heb. 9:11, NKJV), while the earthly is a “copy and shadow” of the heavenly one (Heb. 8:5, NKJV). As a shadow is always a mere representation of something real, and an imperfect and faint representation at that, the earthly sanctuary is a mere representation of the heavenly. Whatever its limitations, however, the earthly sanctuary does reflect the reality of the heavenly in important ways. The relationship between the two is called typology. Typology is a divinely designed, prophetic prefiguration that involves two corresponding historical realities, called type (original) and antitype (copy). Because the correspondence runs from the type (original) to the antitype (copy), we can see in Hebrews that the heavenly model that Moses had seen is referred to as “type” or “pattern” (Heb. 8:5) and the earthly sanctuary as “antitype” or “copy” (Heb. 9:24). This truth presents more evidence that the heavenly existed prior to the earthly. As Christians, we are on solid biblical ground when we in emphasize the physical reality of the heavenly sanctuary. Meaning of Antitype; “One that is foreshadowed by or identified with an earlier symbol or type, such as a figure in the New Testament who has a counterpart in the Old Testament.”
Posted on: Sun, 06 Oct 2013 23:35:55 +0000
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