CONTRASTS. Hebrews 9 The Lord Jesus Christ is portrayed as the eternal priest in chapter 7, which surpasses the temporary Levitical priesthood. In chapter 8, He is described as the Minister of the sanctuary and the Mediator of a better covenant. In chapter 9, the word “blood,” used here for the first time, is mentioned twelve times. This highlights the significance of the sacrifice our Lord Jesus Christ made to bring us to God.
The blood of an innocent sacrifice was necessary to enter the Holiest of all, speaking to us of having our conscience cleansed so we can enter the presence of God. The blood was needed to ratify the covenant and cleanse everything connected to it. At the end of the chapter, it is His own blood that opens the way to heaven and cleanses us from all sin.
The contrasts in this chapter mark a turning point in the book, which looks back, then at the present, and finally guides us into the challenges that Hebrew Christians faced as they moved forward with strength, courage, and faith. There are two tabernacles compared—two priesthoods, two offerings, two results, two sacrifices, two comparisons, and two deaths. This encourages readers to consider two kinds of worship: one formal, ritualistic, and visual, and the other worship in spirit and in truth. This type of worship arises from the appreciation and attitude of someone who personally understands the value of being redeemed by the precious blood of Christ.
There was great value to God in the first covenant, and it was of great importance to the Hebrew worshippers in the first covenant’s system of worship. God had designed and provided this, which was far better than anything on earth. The second covenant was made and provided for by God when the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. The covenant made by the incarnation, holy life, death on the cross, burial, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ was superior to that which God appointed to be the earthly sanctuary. God ordained no other sanctuary on earth.
No earthly building, no matter how grand, has a sanctuary for God like the tabernacle. The tabernacle itself, the sacrifices, and all the procedures performed there were carried out according to God's instructions. The glory of the tabernacle pointed forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the true tabernacle that God pitched. The sacrifices, the blood of innocent animals, and the rituals foreshadowed the sacrifice Christ made as the “Lamb of God who bears away the sin of the world.”
The law and everything it required, the God-ordained place where He met with His people; these were all valuable and served as a way to understand the coming Redeemer, who would bring us into God's presence forever. Therefore, it is not right to criticize the first covenant, but remember that these were God’s means of guiding people before the first coming of Christ, so that, by faith, they might see that God provided a way of salvation by grace through faith in an innocent substitute.