Hebrews 9:8 - Meaning and Application

In these verses, the apostle explains the mind and meaning of the Holy Spirit in all the tabernacle rules and the old covenant worship, including both the place itself and the sacrifices. The Old Testament Scriptures were given by God’s inspiration, and the holy men of old spoke and wrote as the Holy Spirit led them. Those records are still very useful and full of meaning, not only for the people who first received them, but also for Christians today.

We should not stop at reading the laws about the Levites, the tribe set apart for priestly service. We should ask what the Holy Spirit teaches through them. He shows several things by these ordinances. One is that the way into the Most Holy Place was not yet open while the first tabernacle stood (Hebrews 9:8). This was one lesson God intended to teach by these symbols. Under the old covenant, the way to heaven was not as clear or as open as it is now under the New Testament.

This is part of the honor of Christ and the gospel, and the blessing of those who live under them, that life and immortality are now brought to light. Back then, people did not have the same free access to God that believers have now. God has opened a wider door, and there is room for all who truly want to return to him through Christ.

The Holy Spirit also shows that the first tabernacle was only a picture for that present time (Hebrews 9:9). It was a dark way of worship and only lasted for a time. It was meant to point ahead to the great things of Christ and the gospel, which were later revealed in their own brightness. When the sun rises, the stars fade away, and in the same way the shadows of the old covenant gave way to the gospel.

Another lesson is that none of the gifts and sacrifices offered there could make the worshiper perfect in regard to conscience (Hebrews 9:9). That is, they could not remove the guilt, stain, or power of sin. They could not free a person from the fear of God’s wrath, or settle the questions and burdens of the heart. A man might go through all of those rites for his whole life and still not have a cleansed or peaceful conscience.

Those sacrifices might protect him from the bodily and temporal judgments threatened against covenant breakers, but they could not save him from sin or hell. Only those who believe in Christ are saved from those things. The Holy Spirit also makes clear that the old covenant regulations were only outward rules and carnal ordinances, meaning physical ceremonies, imposed until the time of reformation came (Hebrews 9:10).

Their weakness appears in three ways. First, by their nature, they were external matters like food, drink, and various washings. These were bodily exercises, and they helped little. At best, they could cleanse the body outwardly. Second, these commands were not left to choice. They were laid on the people with strict penalties, and this was meant to turn them more toward the promised Savior and make them long for him. Third, they were never meant to last forever, only until the time of reformation, when the better things promised to them would actually come.

Gospel times are times of reformation, and they should bring clearer knowledge of all that we need to know. They should also bring greater love, so that we bear no ill will to others but good will to all, and take pleasure in what is like God. They should bring greater freedom of spirit and speech, and a holier way of life shaped by the rule of the gospel. We have far greater advantages under the gospel than they had under the law, so we must be better, or we will be worse. A life that fits the gospel is a noble way to live, and nothing low, foolish, empty, or slavish fits it.

The Holy Spirit also teaches that we use types rightly only when we connect them to what they point to, the antitype. The antitype, the greater reality, must be far above the shadow, and this is the main purpose of the whole teaching. Since the apostle writes to people who believe that Christ has come and that Jesus is the Christ, he rightly concludes that Christ is far above all the legal high priests (Hebrews 9:11, Hebrews 9:12).

Christ is a high priest of good things to come, which can mean several things. It includes all the good things that were coming during the Old Testament and have now come in the New. All the spiritual and eternal blessings that Old Testament believers enjoyed in their day came through the Messiah who was still to come, the one they trusted in. The Old Testament showed these things in shadows, and the New Testament is their fulfillment.

It also includes all the good things still to come in the gospel age, when the promises and prophecies made to the church in later days will be fulfilled. All of these depend on Christ and his priesthood. And it includes all the good things to come in heaven, which will complete both Testaments. Glory will bring grace to its full end, and in that higher sense, heaven is the completion of the New Testament even more than the New Testament was the completion of the Old. All things, past, present, and future, are founded on and flow from Christ’s priestly office.

Christ is also a high priest by a greater and more perfect tabernacle (Hebrews 9:11), a tabernacle not made with hands, not part of this created order. That is, it is his own body, or rather his human nature, conceived by the Holy Spirit when he overshadowed the blessed virgin Mary. This was a new kind of building, far greater than any earthly structure, including the tabernacle of the temple itself.

Christ, our high priest, has entered heaven, not as the old high priest entered the Most Holy Place with the blood of bulls and goats, but with his own blood, which those sacrifices only pictured and which is far more precious. He did not enter for just one year, which showed the weakness of that priesthood, since it only gained a yearly pardon in a shadowy way. Our high priest entered once for all and obtained not a yearly pause, but eternal redemption, so he does not need to enter again each year.

In every type there was something that made it resemble Christ, and something that showed it was only a type and fell short of him. For that reason, the type must never be set alongside Christ as if they were equal. The Holy Spirit also shows the power of the blood of the old covenant sacrifices, and from that we can infer the far greater power of the blood of Christ.

The blood of the legal sacrifices had real value, but its reach was limited. It purified the outward person, as Hebrews 9:13 says. That meant it removed ceremonial uncleanness and turned away temporal punishment. It also gave a person access to certain outward privileges.

From this, the writer draws a much stronger conclusion about Christ’s blood in Hebrews 9:14: how much more will the blood of Christ work? The power of Christ’s blood came from the fact that he offered himself to God. In this offering, his human nature was laid on the altar of his divine nature. He was priest, altar, and sacrifice all at once. Because of that, his offering could truly bring atonement, which means making peace between God and sinners.

Christ also offered himself through the eternal Spirit, not just by divine support, but with the Holy Spirit helping him in perfect obedience. He gave himself willingly in the great act of obedience. And he offered himself without spot, without any stain of sin in his nature or life. That matched the law of sacrifices, which required animals without blemish.

The effect of Christ’s blood is far greater than the old sacrifices. It can cleanse the conscience from dead works, which are sins that come from spiritual death and lead to eternal death. Sin defiles the soul, just as touching a dead body brought legal uncleanness. But the blood of Christ can wash away that inner stain.

It also fits us to serve the living God. Christ’s blood does more than remove guilt, which stands between God and sinners. It also sanctifies and renews the soul through the gracious work of the Holy Spirit. Christ purchased that help for this very purpose, so that we might serve God in a living, active way.