SANCTUARY 1

The word sanctuary has specific definitions in the Bible. In the Bible it is, a sanctuary or sacred place, it is a holy, set-apart space where God dwells, specifically referring to the Tent, Tabernacle, Temple, or the Holy of Holies where the Ark was kept. It signifies God’s presence among His people. This was the history of sanctuary in the Old Testament.

Before Exodus 25:8, the Lord did not dwell in a fixed earthly portable structure: “They are to make a sanctuary for me so that I may dwell among them. You must make it according to all that I show you—the pattern of the tabernacle as well as the pattern of all its furnishings” (Exodus 25:8-9).

Before this, the Lord manifested his presence primarily from a pillar of clouds or fire and guided the Israelites through the wilderness after deliverance from Egypt. At other times, like Mount Sinai, the Lord was in ‘the midst of the clouds’ and manifested his glory to Moses (Exodus 24).
This all changed back again with the New Covenant. There is again ‘no earthly structure (tent, tabernacle, temple, holy site or church building) where God dwells. Paul, an apostle, wrote in1 Corinthians 3:16, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” And again, for we are the temple of the living God, as God said: I will dwell and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people” (2 Corinthians 6:16).
What changed? The giving and indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
(To be continued)

“I will destroy this temple made with human hands, and in three days I will build another not made by hands.” Jesus