The Purpose of the Earthly and Heavenly Sanctuary Today
The purpose of the earthly sanctuary was a pictoral illustration of God’s plan of salvation for all humanity. This plan of salvation originated in heaven. So the earthly was the out playing of the heavenly. This means that for us in the NT era to understand fully God’s plan for our salvation, we should be acquainted with the proceedings of the earthly sanctuary. When we do this we are able to follow God’s movements in saving humanity in His service in the heavenly sanctuary today. We will also grasp more fully God’s love for humanity as they realize where Jesus is presently, and when He will stand up, according to Daniel 12:1
, for His people to bring sin and sinful earth to an end. This plan was what God sought to communicate to Adam and Eve in Gen. 3:15 when He said that in the struggle between good and evil, Jesus would be wounded, but satan will receive a mortal wound and earth will be restored to God’s universal family containing no trace of sin nor sinners; only righteousness will reign forever and ever!
Exodus 25:9, 40; Num. 8:4 The earthly sanctuary was built after a divine blueprint, suggesting the existence of a heavenly sanctuary or temple.
Hebrews 8:1, 2, 5 Paul in Hebrews makes this fact very clear.
Leviticus 16:3-28; 23:26-32; The day of atonement feast typifies the final eradication of sin from people and the earth. This was performed once every year in the Jewish economy in the OT on the 10th. day of Tishri (October 22). It was called the day of atonement; it involved the symbolical judgment of all those who have accepted Christ as their saviour; and also symbolizes the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary (or earth) of the sin; and the removal of the sins of those who accept God as their Saviour.
Daniel 8:14. Daniel predicts prophetically that there will be a cleansing of the sanctuary after 2,300 days. He tells us in Daniel 9:25 that this prophecy begain in 457 BC when Artaxerxes, the Persian King, gave commandment to the Jewish captives in Babylon to return to Judah to reoccupy the land and to rebuild the sanctuary and have complete control of the seat of government in Jerusalem. If the prophecy began in 457 BC then the end date would be 1844 AD. And this would mean that the sanctuary to be cleansed in Daniel 8:14 could not be the earthly, since there is no sanctuary on earth today, but would have to be the heavenly.
Hebrews 9:11, 12, 23-24 Makes this fact clear, that Jesus is today working on our behalf in the heavenly sanctuary. If in the OT the day of atonement showed God’s complete dealing with sin and sinners, then the heavenly counter part would show that when Jesus finishes the heavenly day of atonemnet which began in 1844 as shown above, then He will return to this earth to remove sin, disobedient sinners, and restore the earth to its pristine glory.
1Thess. 4:13-18 Tell us that Jesus will return to this earth for His people
Revelation 21:1-7 Tell us that God will remove all traces of sin and sinners in both His people and the earth.
Ps. 95:7; Hebrews 3:7, 8, 12-15. Both in Old and New Testaments God counselled His people to obey Him, and not to harden their hearts when they hear the gospel commission to follow Him.