The Sanctuary Door

The Door to the Sanctuary is the second of three 'doors': there was the Door to the Outer Court (where we first entered); here we are at the Door to the Sanctuary (where we enter the Holy Place) and soon we will come to the Veil at the entrance to the Holy of Holies.

The Door to the Sanctuary is remarkably similar to the Door to the Outer Court: it has the same colouring: blue, purple, scarlet and the white of the fine twined linen. As with that Door, the book of Exodus does not tell us the pattern of the tapestry. Seeing these colours again reminds us of the Lord Jesus in the four gospels as the Son of God, the King, the lowly servant who became our ransom, and the lovely, pure humanity of "the Son of Man who came to seek and to save that which is lost" (Luke 19:10).

This Door has different dimensions (4.6 x 4.6 metres), but occupies the same area as the Door of the Outer Court; that Door was half the height and twice the width, inviting us with comforting access to know the salvation in Christ at the Burnt Offering Altar and the Laver. There everything was just above or just below eye level, as our human sinful condition was addressed by our Saviour God (Titus 3:3-7).

Now that "we who were once far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:13), the Door to the Sanctuary requires us to take another look at this same Jesus. This time we see a higher view of Him as the exalted Christ, as we enter into the house of God (the Sanctuary), which is a picture of the church in God's design.

The New Testament book of Hebrews gives us this view, speaking of Christ "having made purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high". There, He received the Name that is above all other names from God the Father, Who declares that all (both men and angels) shall worship the Son (Hebrews 1:3-6; Philippians 2:9-11). The same faithful and worthy Christ is further the "Son over His house, whose house are we if we hold fast" (Hebrews 3:2,6). The colours are the same: He is the Son of God, the King, our ransom, our merciful great High Priest; what has changed is the perspective. It is God's design that we should not cross the threshold of the Sanctuary (the house of God, the church) without first gaining a distinct impression of the exalted Christ.

This view is reinforced by the presence in front of the curtain of the five golden pillars that give it support. The pillars were made from acacia wood overlaid with gold; the beauty is gold, the structure is wood. This bespeaks the mystery of Christ's Person: He is both God and man, divine and human, Son of God and son of man. The child born is called the Mighty God, the son given is called the Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6). The government of God's kingdom is upon the shoulders of such a Person (Isaiah 9:6-7). He is the Son Who is over God's house (Hebrews 3:6).

At the feet of the pillars were sockets of bronze, again reminding us of God's judgement. The line of thought in the book of Hebrews continues here too. The writer has shown Christ is God the Son in chapter 1. Then in chapter 2 he quotes from Psalm 8, concerning the exaltation of Jesus Christ, the son of man, "crowned with glory and honour, set over all the works of Your (God's) hands, You (God) have subjected all things under His feet" (Hebrews 2:7-8). The bronze sockets for the pillars speak to us clearly of total judgement, that "in subjecting all things to Him, He left nothing unsubjected to Him" (Hebrews 2:8). Such is the strength and magnitude of Christ's victory on the cross: "He made a public spectacle of the principalities and powers, triumphing over them in the cross" (Colossians 2:15).

God "subjected all things under His (Christ's) feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church" (Ephesians 1:22). This is the view of the Sanctuary Door as we enter into the house of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is King, Son of God, purifier of sins, Son of Man, Lord, Ruler and Head. How wrong it is for anyone other than the Lord Jesus Christ to be called the head of the church. Only He is qualified and worthy and able to head up the church. Because all things are subjected under His feet, the gates of Hades cannot prevail against the genuine church, the house of God that the Son is building (Matthew 16:18; Hebrews 3:6).

With the glorified and exalted Christ in view, we may now proceed into the Sanctuary, to look first at the Boards and Bars of its structure, before contemplating the furnishings of the Holy Place. As we enter the Holy Place, our prayer is "may the God of peace sanctify us wholly" (I Thessalonians 5:23).