“By these regulations the Holy Spirit revealed that the entrance to the Most Holy Place was not freely open as long as the Tabernacle and the system it represented were still in use” (Hebrews 9:8 NLT).

THE TEMPLE FORESHADOWED THAT WHICH CHRIST FULFILLED

The two rooms of the Tabernacle were symbolic of the spiritual separation existing between God and man. Only priests could enter the first room called the Holy Place. And only the High Priest could enter the second room called the Most Holy Place, and then only once a year on the Day of Atonement (“Yom Kippur”). Yet, when Christ died on the cross, the curtain of separation was rent and the way to the Father was opened. Because of Jesus we may approach the throne of God, clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Jesus has opened the way for us, not by having us keep religious “regulations,” but by believing in Him and receiving Him in relationship as Lord and Savior.

The Romans destroyed the Jerusalem Temple, ending its religious sacrifices and practices, in 70 A.D. It was always only a foreshadowing of that which Christ is the fulfillment. Christ has opened a new and living way to a right relationship with God.