The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 415

The sanctuary in heaven, in which Jesus ministers in our behalf, is
the great original, of which the sanctuary built by Moses was a copy.
God placed His Spirit upon the builders of the earthly sanctuary. The
artistic skill displayed in its construction was a manifestation of divine
wisdom. The walls had the appearance of massive gold, reflecting in
every direction the light of the seven lamps of the golden candlestick.
The table of shewbread and the altar of incense glittered like burnished
gold. The gorgeous curtain which formed the ceiling, inwrought with
figures of angels in blue and purple and scarlet, added to the beauty of
the scene. And beyond the second veil was the holy Shekinah, the visible
manifestation of God’s glory, before which none but the high priest could
enter and live.
The matchless splendor of the earthly tabernacle reflected to human
vision the glories of that heavenly temple where Christ our forerunner
ministers for us before the throne of God. The abiding place of the
King of kings, where thousand thousands minister unto Him, and ten
thousand times ten thousand stand before Him (Daniel 7:10); that
temple, filled with the glory of the eternal throne, where seraphim, its
shining guardians, veil their faces in adoration, could find, in the most
magnificent structure ever reared by human hands, but a faint reflection
of its vastness and glory. Yet important truths concerning the heavenly
sanctuary and the great work there carried forward for man’s redemption
were taught by the earthly sanctuary and its services.
The holy places of the sanctuary in heaven are represented by the
two apartments in the sanctuary on earth. As in vision the apostle John
was granted a view of the temple of God in heaven, he beheld there
“seven lamps of fire burning before the throne.” Revelation 4:5. He saw
an angel “having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much
incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the
golden altar which was before the throne.” Revelation 8:3. Here the
prophet was permitted to behold the first apartment

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