Q: Could you summarize the doctrine of the sanctuary?
The sanctuary doctrine integrates God’s end-time message into a cosmic narrative that unifies the doctrines of God, creation, origin of sin, salvation, the church, and last things, with the intended purpose of disclosing, through Christ, the loving nature of God.
God’s Nearness
In eternity God made a decision, of cosmic proportions, to reside within the time and space He created for His creatures (cf. Ps. 93:1, 2, 5; Jer. 17:12). He dwells within a creation that cannot contain Him (1 Kings. 8:27; John 1:1-3). Divine condescension? Yes. A sacrifice. God’s self-giving love moved Him to descend to be near His creatures. Intelligent beings will enjoy fellowship and companionship with Him, and His localized presence will provide coherence to cosmic history.
Rebellion, Promise, and Temple
Two events damaged creation. First, a cherub aspired to be like God in the heavenly dwelling (Isa. 14:13, 14), initiating a conflict that would exclude him and his supporters from God’s dwelling (cf. Rev. 12:7, 8). Second, humans joined the fallen cherub (Gen. 3:1-7), fracturing their relationship with God. But to restore this relationship, the Son of God chose to descend to the world of sinful creatures (John 1:14).
The judgment closes with universal acknowledgment of God’s loving and righteous character.
First, a Savior was promised to humans (Gen. 3:15, 21), through whom they may have access to the heavenly temple (cf. Rom. 3:21-26; Heb. 10:19, 20). Second, God accompanied humans as co-sojourner in a land of sin and death, keeping hope alive through sacrifices (Gen. 8:20; 22:9-14). Third, God created a nation, Israel, entrusted to it the promise of a Savior (Gen. 12:1-3), and chose to dwell in an earthly tabernacle that mediated the benefits of the work performed in the heavenly sanctuary (Ex. 25:8, 9; 1 Kings. 8:29, 30). Fourth, the tabernacle was a type of the heavenly temple (Heb. 8:5) and the priestly work prefigured Christ’s work (verses 1, 2). The year was segmented into two services—the daily work of reconciliation (Lev. 17:11; Num. 28:3, 4) and the annual work of judgment (Lev. 16)—performed in the holy and most holy places of the sanctuary, respectively, differentiating the two ministries and revealing progression in the atoning process.
Messiah and Temple
Next came the descent of the Savior, the Immanuel (Gal. 4:4; Matt. 1:23). After His ascension, cosmic history was segmented into two periods, corresponding to the earthly priestly work. Daniel locates the work of the Messiah in the heavenly temple within a prophetic period of 2300 days. The first part of the prophecy (70 weeks [Dan. 9:24-26]) takes us to the arrival of the Messiah and the initiation of His priestly work (daily ministry) in the holy place in A.D. 31, consisting in applying the benefits of His sacrifice to believers.
The second segment identifies 1844 (Dan. 8:14; cf. Heb. 9:23) as the time Christ begins the antitypical day of atonment in the most holy place (cf. Rev. 11:10; 14:6-12). His work as judge ends the cosmic conflict (Dan. 7:9, 10, 13, 14, 21, 22, 26; 12:1). The judgment solves, first, the problem of sin on earth through a pre-Advent judgment that vindicates God’s people and fully restores to them access to God’s dwelling (John 14:1-3). Second, the judgment of the wicked resolves the cosmic problem of sin. Standing before the Lamb, they will see Christ’s sacrifice on the cross (Rev. 14:10; 20:11-15) and will realize that, as impenitent sinners, they deserve death (cf. Rev. 6:15-17). The judgment closes with universal acknowledgment of God’s loving and righteous character (Phil. 2:9-11; Rev. 5:11-13). Finally, we will have access to God in His heavenly temple, now located on Planet Earth (Rev. 21:2-4).
