The European Union in Prophecy The EU in Prophecy I | Page 328

The European Union in Prophecy
manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; and over it the
cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat." Hebrews 9:1-5.
The sanctuary to which Paul here refers was the tabernacle built by Moses at
the command of God as the earthly dwelling place of the Most High. "Let them make
Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them" (Exodus 25:8), was the direction given
to Moses while in the mount with God. The Israelites were journeying through the
wilderness, and the tabernacle was so constructed that it could be removed from place
to place; yet it was a structure of great magnificence. Its walls consisted of upright
boards heavily plated with gold and set in sockets of silver, while the roof was formed
of a series of curtains, or coverings, the outer of skins, the innermost of fine linen
beautifully wrought with figures of cherubim. Besides the outer court, which
contained the altar of burnt offering, the tabernacle itself consisted of two apartments
called the holy and the most holy place, separated by a rich and beautiful curtain, or
veil; a similar veil closed the entrance to the first apartment.
In the holy place was the candlestick, on the south, with its seven lamps giving
light to the sanctuary both by day and by night; on the north stood the table of
shewbread; and before the veil separating the holy from the most holy was the golden
altar of incense, from which the cloud of fragrance, with the prayers of Israel, was
daily ascending before God. In the most holy place stood the ark, a chest of precious
wood overlaid with gold, the depository of the two tables of stone upon which God had
inscribed the law of Ten Commandments. Above the ark, and forming the cover to the
sacred chest, was the mercy seat, a magnificent piece of workmanship, surmounted
by two cherubim, one at each end, and all wrought of solid gold. In this apartment the
divine presence was manifested in the cloud of glory between the cherubim.
After the settlement of the Hebrews in Canaan, the tabernacle was replaced by
the temple of Solomon, which, though a permanent structure and upon a larger scale,
observed the same proportions, and was similarly furnished. In this form the
sanctuary existed--except while it lay in ruins in Daniel's time--until its destruction
by the Romans, in A.D. 70. This is the only sanctuary that ever existed on the earth,
of which the Bible gives any information. This was declared by Paul to be the
sanctuary of the first covenant. But has the new covenant no sanctuary? Turning
again to the book of Hebrews, the seekers for truth found that the existence of a second,
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