Hebrews 9:8 Commentary and Bible Study

It was the Holy Spirit, who is the author of Scripture, who is said to have signified by this arrangement that access was not yet given to the holiest of all. This is fascinating, for the symbolism was designed to show how the holiest would one day be accessed, and at the same time it showed that that access was not yet granted. The symbolism of the tabernacle set a limit on itself; it taught that it was not the real thing, for if it had been then the barrier would not have continued to exist. What it was that made this clear was the continuing presence of the veil or curtain, that shut off the holiest of all from the first chamber of the tabernacle. The high priest went into the holy of holies once a year and performed the ritual sacrifices demanded by the law. What effect did that have? Were they not intended to show how Christ would one day open the way to heaven for his people by taking away their sins before a holy God whose presence was there above the mercy seat? Yes indeed, and yet at the end of the day, the curtain was still there. That seemed like an error in the symbolism. But no, it was deliberate, for the law had to show these two things at once: how God would one day open up the way, and that that day had not yet come, but was only being explained in symbolic form by these Old Testament pictures. While there was a tabernacle tent (and afterwards the solid temple), while there was a Levitical priesthood, while the sacrifices were still being offered before Christ came, then what they had was the shadow, the temporary, the symbol only.But what is the holiest place that the verse speaks about? Not the holy of holies in the earthly tabernacle, but the true holiest of all in heaven itself. Yes, the veil was rent from top to bottom in the earthly temple following the death of Christ (Mark 15:38), but that event took place by supernatural intervention in order to do justice to symbolism, and to show Christ’s wonderful achievement in taking away our sins. By doing so he did what the high priest of old could never do, and reconciled us to God. The rending of the veil of the temple in Jerusalem was the beginning the end for that temple. The earthly temple was made irrelevant by the coming of Christ. Whether or not it was repaired, the temple itself ceased to exist in AD 70.