History of the Sabbath and First Day of the Week - John N. Andrews

21; Deut. 10:4, 5; 1 Kings 8:9) and had also a
priesthood to minister before that ark, to make
atonement for the sins of men, (Heb., chaps. 7-10;
Lev. 16) even thus is it with the new covenant.
Instead of the tabernacle erected by Moses as the
pattern of the true, the new covenant has the
greater and more perfect tabernacle, which the
Lord pitched and not man -- the temple of God in
Heaven. (Rev. 11:19) As the great central point in
the earthly sanctuary was the ark containing that
law which man had broken, even thus it is with the
heavenly sanctuary. "The temple of God was
opened in Heaven, and there was seen in his temple
the ark of his testament." Our Lord Jesus Christ as
a great High Priest presents his own blood before
the ark of God's testament in the temple in Heaven.
Respecting this object before which he ministers,
let the following points be noted:--
1. The ark in the heavenly temple is not empty;
it contains the testament of God; and hence it is the
great center of the sanctuary above, as the ark of
God's testament was the center of the sanctuary of
earth. (Ex. 25:21, 22)
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