Plan of Salvation in the Sanctuary Message, Introduction/l;;

Introduction

Grace sent in search for us

Read and analyse Genesis chapter 3.

- THE first picture we have of God after man had sinned is that of Him walking in the garden in the
cool of the day, calling unto Adam, “Where art thou?” Genesis 3:9. This picture is both beautiful
and significant. Man has sinned and disobeyed God's express command. But the Lord does not
forsake Him. He is looking for Adam and calling, “Where ' art thou?”
- Adam did not die and Christ stood in the gab: “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
Revelation 13:8.
- To impress more fully upon Adam and Eve the nature of sin and the consequences of transgression,
Ias well as to demonstrate His love for them, God clothed them in the skins of the animals slain in
sacrifice. (Genesis 3:21)
- They were learning that their repentance in no way abated the temporal results of transgression.
God's commandments cannot be trifled with, and the safety of the universe demands that the
dignity of the law be maintained even while mercy is extended.
Grace is an attribute of God exercised toward undeserving human beings. We did not seek for it, but it was
sent in search of us. {FLB 94.2}
Divine grace is the great element of saving power; without it all human effort is unavailing. {FLB 94.3}
By disobeying the commands of God, man fell under the condemnation of His law. This fall called for the
grace of God to appear in behalf of sinners. We should never have learned the meaning of this word
"grace" had we not fallen. God loves the sinless angels, who do His service, and are obedient to all His
commands; but He does not give them grace. These heavenly beings know naught of grace; they have
never needed it; for they have never sinned. Grace is an attribute of God shown to undeserving human
beings. We did not seek after it, but it was sent in search of us. God rejoices to bestow this grace upon
every one who hungers for it. To every one He presents terms of mercy, not because we are worthy, but
because we are so utterly unworthy. Our need is the qualification which gives us the assurance that we
shall receive this gift. {AG 10.2}
Grace is an attribute of God exercised toward undeserving human beings. We did not seek for it, but it was
sent in search of us. God rejoices to bestow His grace upon us, not because we are worthy, but because we
are so utterly unworthy. Our only claim to His mercy is our great need. {MH 161.2}
The Lord God through Jesus Christ holds out His hand all the day long in invitation to the sinful and
fallen. He will receive all. He welcomes all. It is His glory to pardon the chief of sinners. He will take the prey
from the mighty, He will deliver the captive, He will pluck the brand from the burning. He will lower the
golden chain of His mercy to the lowest depths of human wretchedness, and lift up the debased soul
contaminated with sin. {MH 161.3}

First promise
'I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed.” Genesis 3:15.
- A paraphrase of this text, without doing violence to its meaning, would read, 'I will put hatred of sin
into your heart.”
- Hatred of sin is vital to full salvation.
- It may truly be said that our capacity for love of the good is measured and balanced by our capacity
for hatred of evil.
- Hebrews 1:9
- This hatred is a great factor in our struggle with evil and-our eventual victory over it. Were it not for
the fact that God implants in the heart of every Christian a hatred of evil as well as a love for the
right, there would be little hope for us.

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God Conceived a Plan
But God conceived a plan whereby He and His people might again be united. If they could not live in
Paradise, where they could enjoy open communion with Him, why should not God go out and live with
them? And so in the fullness of time God sent word to His people : “Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I
may dwell among them.” Exodus 25:8. Wonderful love! God could not bear to be separated from His own,
and so His love devised a plan whereby He might live among them! He would go with them on their
journeys to and fro in the wilderness, and at last lead them into the Promised Land. God would be with His
people again.

In the New Testament we are told, “They shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God
with us.” Matthew 1:23. The Christian ideal is fellowship with God, oneness with Him, no separation.
- “Enoch walked with God.” Genesis 5:24.
- Moses talked with Him face to face. (Exodus 33:11)
- But Israel was not yet ready for such an experience. They needed to be taught lessons of reverence
and holiness. They needed to learn that without holiness no man can see God. (Hebrews 12:14) It
was to teach them this that God commanded them to make Him a sanctuary that He might dwell
among them.

- I tis not possible for us to keep the law in our own strength: Exodus 24:7. (Exodus 19:8; 24:3),
Exodus 32:1-6

Way of escape
The Lamb provides the way of escape:

- Adam and Eve

- Abraham and Isaac

Could God forgive us without giving his Son to die?

Sin means death - “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23, Heb 9:22)

- Hebrew 9:11-14 It took the blood of Jesus that our sins might be forgiven. A prize had to be paid.
Forgiveness is not simply a matter, forgiveness is not just forgetting about a sin. Sin means death.

God's Sanctuaries on Earth

There are three temples that the Bible identifies:

1. Hebrews 9:11
2. 1Cor 3:16
3. Ex 25:8,9; Heb 8:5; Ex 26:30

- Sanctuary built by Moses

- Solomon’s temple
- Zerubbabel’s temple
- Herod’s temple

IT WAS not long after the giving of the law on Mount Sinai that the Lord told Moses to “speak unto the
children of Israel that they bring Me an offering: of every man that gives it willingly with his heart you shall
take My offering.” Exodus 25:2. This offering was to consist of -gold, and silver, and brass, and blue, and
purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, and rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim
wood, oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense, onyx stones, and stones to be set in

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the ephod, and in the breastplate.” Verses 3-7. It was to be used mostly in the construction of the
sanctuary, but also for the garments of the priesthood and for the upkeep of the service in general.

The Building Proper

The sanctuary here mentioned was a tent with wooden walls, the roof consisting of four layers of material,
the inner being of fine-twisted linen, the outer, of “rams' skins dyed red, and a covering above of badgers'
skins.” Exodus 26:14. The building itself was about fifteen by forty-five feet (on the basis of an eighteen-
inch cubit), situated within an enclosure called the court, which was about seventy-five feet wide by one
hundred and fifty feet long.
The tabernacle was so constructed that it could be taken apart and easily moved. The boards were not
nailed together as in an ordinary structure, but were separate, each set upright in a silver socket.
(Exodus 36:20-34) The curtains enclosing the court were suspended from pillars set in brazen sockets.
(Exodus 38: 9-20) The furniture also was so made that it would be easily transported from place to place on
their journeys in the wilderness. The whole construction of the tabernacle, while beautiful and even
gorgeous in design, showed its temporary nature. It was intended to serve only until such time as Israel
should settle in the Promised Land and a more permanent building could be erected.
The building was divided into two apartments: the first and larger one called the holy; the second
apartment, called the most holy. Before the first apartment hung a curtain, or veil, and another, veil divided
the holy from the most holy place. This latter veil was removed each year and another hung in its place.
There were no windows in the building. In the first apartment, however, the lamps on the seven branched
candlestick, or lamp stand, gave sufficient light for the priests to perform the daily service which the ritual
demanded.

The Two Apartments

There were three articles of furniture in the first apartment: the table of show bread, the golden
candlestick, and the altar of incense. Entering the apartment from the front of the building, which faced
east, one would see near the opposite end of the room the altar of incense. To the right would be the table
of show bread, and to the left the candlestick. On the table would be arranged in two piles the twelve cakes
of the show bread, together -with the incense and the flagons for the drink offering. On it would also be the
dishes, spoons, and bowls used in the daily service. (Exodus 37:16) The candlestick was made of pure gold.
It had six branches, three branches on each side of the center one. The bowls containing the oil were made
after the fashion of almonds. (Verse 19) Not only was the candlestick made of gold, but also the snuffers
and the snuff dishes. (Verse 23) '
The most important article of furniture in this apartment was the altar of incense. It was about thirty-six
inches in height, and its top was eighteen inches square. This altar was overlaid with pure gold, and around
its top was a crown, or molding, of gold.
It was on this altar that the priest in the daily service placed the coals, of fire taken from the altar of burnt
offering, and the incense. As he put the incense on the coals on the altar, the smoke would ascend, and as
the veil between the holy and the most holy did not extend to the top of the building, the incense filled not
only the holy place but also the most holy. In this way the altar of incense, although located in the first
apartment, served the second apartment also. For this reason it was put “before the vale that is by the ark
of the testimony before the mercy seat that is over the testimony,” where God was to meet with His
people. (Exodus 30:6)
In the second apartment, the most holy, there was only one piece of furniture-the ark. This ark was made in
the form of a chest, about forty-five inches long and twenty-seven inches wide. The cover of this chest was
called the mercy scat. Around the top of the mercy scat was a crown, or molding, of gold, the same as on
the altar of incense. In this chest Moses placed the Ten Commandments, written on two tables of stone
with God's own finger. (Ex 31:18; Deuteronomy 10:4, 5) For a time, at least, the ark also contained the
golden pot that had the manna, and Aaron's rod that budded. (Hebrews 9:4.) On the mercy scat were two
cherubim of gold, of beaten work, one cherub on one end and the other cherub on the other. (Exodus
25:19) Of these cherubim it is said that they shall “stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy
seat with their wings, and their; faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of
the cherubims be.” Verse 20. Here God would commune with His people. To Moses He said: “There I will

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meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy scat, from between the two
cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment
unto the children of
Israel.” Verse 22.

In the Court
Outside in the court, immediately in front of the door of the tabernacle, was a laver, a large basin
containing water. This laver was made of brass from the mirrors which the women had contributed for this
purpose. At this laver the priests were to bathe their hands and feet before entering the tabernacle or
beginning their service. (Exodus 30:17-21; 38:8)
In the court was also the altar of burnt offering, which had a most important part to serve in all sacrificial
offerings. This altar was about five feet high and seven and a half feet square, hollow inside and overlaid
with brass. (Exodus 27:1) On this altar the animals were placed when offered as burnt sacrifice.
Here also the fat was consumed and the required part of the meal offering placed. At the four corners of
the altar were horn like projections. In certain sacrificial offerings the blood was placed on these horns or
sprinkled on the altar. The blood not otherwise used was poured out at the base of the altar.

The message of the Sanctuary

Every type used in the entire sacrificial system was designed by God to bear resemblance to some spiritual
truth. The value of these types consisted in the fact that they were chosen by God Himself to shadow forth
the different phases of the complete plan of redemption, made possible by the death of Christ. The likeness
between type and antitype is never accidental, but is simply a fulfilment of the great plan of God.