y, and of the true tabernacle,
which the Lord pitched, and not man." Heb. 8:1, 2.

In the earthly service, the cleansing of the sanctuary was the closing
work of the high priest, marking the end of the yearly round of
mediatory ministry. The cleansing of the sanctuary in the time of the
end must, therefore, according to the sure teaching of the type, be the
closing ministry of our great High Priest in the heavenly temple, before
He lays aside His priestly work to come in glory.

The Service of the Earthly Tabernacle

There were two distinct phases in the priestly ministry of the
tabernacle in Israel. The sanctuary was built with two apartments, the
holy place and the most holy.

In the holy place were the candlestick with its seven lights, the table
with its ever-renewed "bread of the presence," and the altar of incense,
on which sweet incense, symbol of Christ's continual intercession, was
burned morning and night.

Within the inner veil was the most holy place, where was the ark
containing the tables of the law, written with the finger of God. The
cover of the ark was the golden mercy-seat, above which, at either end,
stood two cherubim of gold, their wings meeting on high, their faces
looking ever toward the mercy-seat. It was a type of the throne of
God--the angels about the throne, the law the foundation of His
government, the mercy-seat typifying the interposition of mercy and
pardon for the sinner; and above it the visible glory of the Lord, the
Shekinah.

"There I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above
the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of
the testimony." Ex. 25:22.

Of the service in the first apartment it is stated:

"When these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the
first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God." Heb. 9:6.

"Day by day the sacrificial victims were slain at the altar before the
outer veil, and the blood was 'brought into the sanctuary' by the
priest." This was an acknowledgment of transgression of God's law,
meriting death, and a confession of faith in the Lamb of God who was to
suffer death in the sinner's stead, and whose atoning blood would plead
for him before the righteous law.

Thus day by day, either by the sprinkling of the blood "before the Lord"
or by eating a portion of the flesh of the burnt offering in the holy
place, the ministry of the priests transferred the sin in type to the
sanct