Lamb, Priest, King

Earlier this year I met for breakfast with a young, gifted, and “on fire” Adventist pastor. He had requested a meeting, and I was happy to oblige. No sooner had I sat down than the questions came fast and furious: “What’s the deal with the sanctuary?” “Does it really matter?” “If it’s so important, and so biblically central, why is no one else emphasizing it the way we do?” “Is it just an artifact of our past that’s better left in the dustbin of history?”

An excellent, lively two-hour conversation ensued. Happily, there were many “aha” moments for the young minister (and me too!) in the course of our time together, but none greater than when I said this: “The sanctuary is all about Jesus—as lamb, priest, and king—and about God’s longing desire to dwell personally and permanently with His beloved people.”

The young man suddenly stopped, half-smiled, wrinkled his brow, shifted his eyes in obvious thought, and then, a few seconds later, blurted out, “Say that again!” So I did. And for more than a moment, he just sat there motionless, pensive, brow furrowed, taking it in.

“Wow,” he exclaimed. “I’ve never heard it like that. Can we talk through that?”

“Of course,” I responded.

What follows is a summary of what we talked about, so pull up a chair and enjoy the conversation.

The Divine Desire to Dwell

God longs to be with and among His people. We see this beautiful truth about God’s heart unmistakably from Genesis to Revelation. In Genesis God fashions Adam and Eve in His own image, makes a garden for them to dwell in, and comes daily to visit them in their garden home. Furthermore, God creates the Sabbath, a day of rest, as a 24-hour “tabernacle in time.”

As Sigve K. Tonstad observes in The Lost Meaning of the Seventh Day: “The seventh day brings to view God’s priorities. Seeing that human time ‘begins with a day of rest and not a day of work,’ the spiritual pursuit, living life in a relationship with the Creator that is mutually meaningful, stands out as the primary meaning in life.”[1] Just one page later Tonstad writes, “The seventh day tells of the importance of human beings to God, and its primary message is not human duty but divine commitment.”[2] These insights are sublime, calibrating us to a proper understanding of the Sabbath as a pre-sin revelation of God’s heart, priorities, and faithfulness.

Unsurprisingly, the message of the Sabbath, a memorial of creation, is the same as the general message of creation: God loves and prioritizes His human children—those that specially bear His image—and accordingly He longs to be with them. Fast-forwarding to Revelation, we see that the grand climax of Scripture and of God’s redemptive plan is that He is, at long last, with His beloved children from all ages.

Returning to the Old Testament, this time to Exodus, we again see God’s longing desire to be with and among His people, this time in the construction of the sanctuary: “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them” (Ex. 25:8). Like creation and the Sabbath, the sanctuary brings to view God’s priorities. And what is among the highest of the divine priorities? To dwell with His people, to be among them.

Before we move on, just let the beauty and profundity of this simple and biblically central truth wash over you: God wants to be with you! Yes, you! He not only loves you, He likes you and wants you, with your unique and irreplaceable personality, to inhabit both eternity and your day-to-day life alongside Him. As our loving heavenly Father, God is for us, all of us. And He has made a way! There is no better news than this. It’s how Scripture opens and closes.

A Pattern

The verse immediately after Exodus 25:8 says, “According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it” (verse 9). The sanctuary design and structure (“the pattern”) was not Moses’ idea—it was God’s.[3]

The divinely given pattern was a three-part structure. The technical word for this, sometimes used by theologians, is tripartite, which simply means composed of, or involving, three parts. Those three parts of the sanctuary are the courtyard, the holy place, and the most holy place. The courtyard was just what it sounds like: a large fenced-in area, or yard. There was a single entrance to the courtyard, symbolizing that there is only one way—or one door—to access the sanctuary and, most important, the God who dwells there.

The courtyard contained two holy articles of furniture: a large altar and a basin of water called a laver. These, too, were designed by God, and again, the pattern was given to Moses. The holy place came next and contained three articles of furniture: a lampstand, a table with ceremonial bread, and a smaller altar for burning incense. The most holy place, which, curiously, was in the shape of a cube, contained a single article of furniture: the ark of the covenant, which held, among other things, the Ten Commandment tablets, written by God’s own hand and given to Moses.[4]

The sanctuary and its divinely given pattern communicated two grand realities.

Eventually, about 1,000 years before the time of Christ, this temporary and mobile sanctuary became a permanent, immovable structure with the construction of King Solomon’s expansive and opulent temple. This temple, like the sanctuary before it, was modeled on the divinely given pattern and was gloriously and unmistakably inhabited by God Himself.

The sanctuary and its pattern communicated two grand realities: (1) God’s desire to be with His people and (2) His holiness requiring a certain way of dwelling with His people. Sin and uncleanness cannot come into the direct presence of God. As God told Moses: “You cannot see My face; for no [sinful] man shall see Me, and live” (Ex. 33:20). This being the case, God made a way for Him to dwell with His sinful people, and that way was the sanctuary, with its specific and God-given pattern.

God knows that you are sinful and that you cannot rescue and restore yourself. So He made a way—a wonderful and wise way that doesn’t compromise His holiness or pretend that our sin isn’t real. It is a wondrous and beautiful solution that brings the sinner “up” to God through mercy, forgiveness, sacrifice, and restoration. God loves us dearly and is deadly serious (literally!) about saving us. Why? Because, again, He longs to be with us personally and permanently!

Jesus and the Sanctuary

The sanctuary, with all its beautiful and often mysterious symbolism, pointed to Jesus! It foreshadowed His incarnation, death, resurrection, and high-priestly ministry. Jesus is “the door” (John 10:7, 9) and “the way” (John 14:6), both references to Jesus as the one point of saving access to God, symbolized by the single entrance to the sanctuary.

Jesus is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” as John the Baptizer boldly announced (John 1:29). Jesus is our “merciful and faithful High Priest” (Heb. 2:17) who “[sympathizes] with our weaknesses” and “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). Jesus is the “bread of life” (John 6:35), a reference to both the manna in the wilderness and the ceremonial shewbread in the sanctuary. Jesus is “the light of the world” (John 8:12), a general reference to light and its illuminating properties, but also the sanctuary lampstand, which brought light to the interior of the sanctuary tent. Jesus is the “mercy seat,” the golden lid that covered the ark where the atoning blood was sprinkled by the high priest (also symbolizing Jesus) on the Day of Atonement (see Rom. 3:25, NET, and Lev. 16).[5]

In fact, Jesus is the whole sanctuary Himself! (See John 2:19-22; 1:14). One fascinating similarity between Jesus in His incarnation and the sanctuary is that both were rather plain and unimpressive viewed from the outside, but on the inside were filled with beauty, mystery, light, and holiness.[6]

One day Jesus told the astonished and utterly befuddled religious leaders of His time that “you search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:39, 40). On another occasion, following His resurrection, Jesus gave a Bible study to two of His bewildered and no-doubt thrilled disciples and said, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me” (Luke 24:44).

There can be little doubt that a large part of what Jesus meant on these two occasions (and others like them) is that the Old Testament sanctuary—its structure, various symbols, and overall message—pointed wonderfully and conclusively to Him: temple, door, lamb, high priest, bread, light, mercy seat, and more! Jesus is not just the one that so many Old Testament stories and symbols, including the sanctuary, point to. He is, Himself, the point!

Is Jesus “a mere doctrine”? Of course not! He is the second person of the Godhead, “the Son of God,” “the Savior of the World,” “the Word made flesh,” our “great High Priest,” our soon-returning “King of kings,” and more.[7] Jesus is the foundation and destination of the Christian faith, and the sanctuary points to Him and His various modes of ministry in multifarious and illuminating ways.

Let’s consider briefly three of Jesus’ roles—lamb, priest, and king.

Jesus Our Lamb

John the Baptizer’s announcement that Jesus was “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29; see also verse 36) was unquestionably a reference to the sanctuary and its sacrifices. Paul echoes the sacrificial aspect of Jesus’ ministry when he writes, “Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Eph. 5:2).

Just as the animal was taken to the sanctuary to be slain, Jesus came to this world to die. But unlike the sanctuary animals, which were humanly dispatched under the watchful eye of the priest, Jesus was treated cruelly, mocked, tortured, and hung on a horrific cross for the twin purpose of maximizing both shame and pain. In the moving words of Ellen White:

“Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His. ‘With his stripes we are healed.’ ”[8]

Please, read that paragraph again. And again.

Let’s reflect for a moment on what it means to us that Jesus is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” It means, among other things, that God has made a way. God envisioned that way and then, in Christ’s life, ministry, death, and resurrection, actualized that way. God is the great initiator. He has the resources of omnipotence at His disposal. He is not accustomed to failure, as we often are. This should create in us a tremendous sense of peace and confidence. Not confidence in ourselves, but in “the Lamb of God.”

Jesus, “led as a lamb to the slaughter” (Isa. 53:7), bore “the sin of the world” (John 1:29). That includes your sins and mine. “He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His.” God is for us. He has got us. “The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8) was slain for you, for me, and for us all. Believe this! Receive this! Let Jesus’ all-sufficient sacrifice as the lamb of God flood your mind and heart with “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Phil. 4:7, ESV).[9]

Jesus Our Priest

Jesus is not only the lamb; He is our high priest. “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession” (Heb. 4:14). Just as the priests ministered before God in the sanctuary, and the high priest entered each year into the most holy place on the Day of Atonement, Jesus, our “great High Priest,” has entered into the presence of God the Father on our behalf, bearing our names just as the high priest of old bore “the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart” (Ex. 28:29).

We need more than a historical Jesus—we need a living, present, and interceding Jesus. We need a permanent Intercessor who knows our plight and remembers our names. As David M. Moffitt writes in his book Rethinking the Atonement: “The very work that the high priests on earth could do only once a year is done by Jesus perpetually. In contrast to the old covenant high priests, who were prevented by death from remaining in their office, Jesus, because of His resurrection, is able to not only serve as the heavenly high priest but to do so without interruption.”[10]

Jesus’ priestly intercession for us is permanent and “without interruption.” Once again, feel the peace and security this great truth brings. The various accusers in our lives—including Satan and, at times, our own conscience—fall powerless when we by faith turn our case over to Jesus’ high-priestly ministry. In the heavenly sanctuary above, “the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man” (Heb. 8:2), Jesus applies, in real time, the perfect merits of His historical life and sacrificial death as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). This is what Moffitt calls Jesus’ “ongoing high-priestly work of covenant maintenance in the heavenly tabernacle.”[11]

Jesus is not only our lamb and priest, He is also our soon-returning king.

Moffitt’s phrase “covenant maintenance” is one he uses repeatedly in his book. In His high-priestly role, Jesus is maintaining, in real time, His saving, restoring covenant with those who place their trust in Him. Jesus’ saving power and reach is not limited to His historical incarnation. No, Jesus is alive today! He is interceding for you, and for all believers, in heaven above today! He remembers and bears your name before God the Father today! The good news just keeps getting better!

But this priestly intercession will not last forever.

Jesus Our King

Jesus is not only our lamb and priest; He is also our soon-returning king. This hope and conviction is at the very heart of what it means to be an Adventist. Our very name announces to the world that we are orienting our lives, energies, talents, finances—indeed, everything—around the return of King Jesus. “Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13) is not unique to denominational Adventists, since nearly all Christians believe in the second coming of Jesus. But for us, in light of our prophetic understanding and mission, it is unapologetically front and center.[12]  

Jesus was the historical lamb, and He is presently “our great High Priest” interceding and ministering in heaven above, and one day—we believe soon—He will return as “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Rev. 19:16). As Hebrews says: “So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many [as Lamb], will appear a second time, not to deal with sin [as Priest], but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him [as King]” (Heb. 9:28, NRSV).[13]

For millennia God’s people—Israel of old and throughout the history of the church—have longed for the arrival and reign of a king after God’s own heart. King Jesus is our true and righteous king—not just God’s human representative, but God Himself! One day soon, as the prophet foresaw, “justice [will] run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream” (Amos 5:24), and not just here and there, as is currently the case on this fallen planet, but everywhere! “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab. 2:14).

During the past few years I’ve closed a number of my sermons with a single, simple appeal: “Jesus is king—live accordingly.” But I’d like to expand that appeal here.

Jesus is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” including your sins, dear reader—live accordingly.

Jesus is our “great High Priest,” interceding in the heavenly sanctuary above, forgiving believers’ sins, judging inveterate and unrepentant evildoers, empowering us for surrender and service by sending forth His Spirit—live accordingly.

Jesus is our soon-returning “King of kings,” this world’s only true hope and our long-awaited deliverer—live accordingly.

[1] Sigve K.Tonstad, The Lost Meaning of the Seventh Day (Berrien Springs, Mich.: Andrews University Press, 2009), p. 37. (Emphasis supplied.)

[2] Ibid., p. 38. (Emphasis supplied.)

[3] See also Exodus 25:40; 26:30; Acts 7:44; Hebrews 8:5. In 2025 Light Bearers, the ministry that I am privileged to be a director/speaker of, spent our annual “convocation” studying the sanctuary in a 10-part series titled Dwell: The Sanctuary and the Heart of God. I highly recommend you check it out on our YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@Light_Bearers.

[4] All of this—from the tripartite structure to the materials, the design and dimensions of the various holy articles to the priests and their garments—is highly symbolic. Fascinating and important books have been written on the sanctuary and its extraordinary symbolism. One such book not to be missed is Richard Davidson’s masterpiece, A Song for the Sanctuary: Experiencing God’s Presence in Shadow and Reality.

[5] Texts credited to NET are from the New English Translation Bible, copyright © 1996, 2026, by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

[6] See Isaiah 53:2 and note that the sanctuary’s beauty was largely on the inside. From the outside, it looked simply like a large but regular tent, to the degree that it could be seen at all by the tall and obscuring fence that bordered the courtyard.

[7] See John 20:31; 1 John 4:14; John 1:14; Hebrews 4:14; Revelation 19:11-16.

[8] Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1898, 1940), p. 25.

[9] Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[10] David M. Moffitt, Rethinking the Atonement: New Perspectives on Jesus’s Death, Resurrection, and Ascension (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2022), p. 148.

[11] Ibid., p. 45. (Emphasis supplied.)

[12] Adventists believe that prophetic timeline reached the true Day of Atonement in 1844, and that Jesus, like the ancient high priest who symbolized and foreshadowed His priestly ministry, has entered into the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary. This being the case, we also believe that He is soon to finish His intercessory work as high priest, and return as “King of kings” to earth at the glorious Second Coming—thus we have the denominational name Adventists.

[13] Bible texts credited to NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission.