Introduction
† Under the old covenant, access to God's presence was restricted. There were priests, sacrifices, curtains, holy places, and a Most Holy Place that ordinary worshipers couldn't enter. Even the high priest entered the Most Holy Place only once each year, and he couldn't enter without blood (Hebrews 9:6-7).
† Those barriers weren't permanent. They were part of a covenant system designed to point forward to Christ. The restricted sanctuary itself was a divine object lesson showing that the way into God's presence hadn't yet been fully revealed while that first tabernacle still had its standing (Hebrews 9:8-10).
† Jesus didn't come to renovate the old system. He accomplished what that system anticipated. Through His sacrifice, believers received confidence to enter God's presence, not through an earthly priesthood, but through Jesus Himself (Hebrews 10:19-22).
† This is one of the greatest blessings of the fulfilled New Covenant. We're not standing outside waiting for another prophetic event to open the door. Through Christ, the door has been opened. We have access to the Father now (Ephesians 2:18).

Hebrews 9:8
The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still standing,
† Notice the inspired connection between access to God's presence and the standing of the first tabernacle. The Holy Spirit was teaching through the old sanctuary that unrestricted access hadn't yet been fully revealed while that covenantal system remained in place (Hebrews 9:8).
† This wasn't primarily about God's physical location. God has never been confined inside a building. The tabernacle represented covenantal access, and its barriers visibly demonstrated the separation associated with the old order (1 Kings 8:27; Hebrews 9:6-10).
† If the first tabernacle represented restricted access, then the removal of that covenantal order meant something tremendous. God's people weren't destined to remain permanently outside. Christ was bringing them into the reality toward which the sanctuary had always pointed (Hebrews 9:11-12, 23-24).

Hebrews 9:11-12
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things having come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made by hands, that is, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all time, having obtained eternal redemption.
† Jesus entered the true holy place through His own blood. The repeated sacrifices of animals couldn't accomplish what Christ accomplished once for all (Hebrews 9:11-12).
† The language is deliberate. The old priests repeatedly entered an earthly sanctuary, but Jesus obtained eternal redemption. What the old covenant pictured repeatedly, Christ accomplished decisively (Hebrews 9:24-26).
† Our access therefore doesn't depend on another earthly temple, another Levitical priesthood, or another animal sacrifice. Our High Priest has already entered, and our redemption rests upon His completed work (Hebrews 7:24-27; 9:12).

Hebrews 9:24
For Christ did not enter a holy place made by hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
† Jesus didn't enter another man-made sanctuary. He entered heaven itself and appeared before God for His people. The earthly sanctuary had always been a copy pointing toward a greater reality (Hebrews 8:1-5; 9:24).
† This is why rebuilding an earthly temple could never improve what Christ accomplished. Going back to shadows after the reality has arrived would be moving backward, not forward (Colossians 2:16-17; Hebrews 10:1).
† Our confidence isn't centered on Jerusalem, a temple building, or an earthly priest. It's centered on Jesus Christ, our heavenly High Priest and mediator of the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:6; 9:15).

Hebrews 10:19-22
Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, through His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let's approach God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
† The language has completely changed. Hebrews 9 described a system announcing restricted access. Hebrews 10 tells believers to draw near with confidence because Jesus opened a new and living way (Hebrews 9:8; 10:19-22).
† Under the old covenant, the message was essentially stay back. Under Christ, the invitation is draw near. That's the difference between the shadow and the reality, between restricted access and access through the Son (Hebrews 4:14-16; 10:19-22).
† We don't approach God because we're personally worthy. We approach because Christ's blood is sufficient. Our confidence rests in what Jesus accomplished, not in our ability to reproduce the old covenant system (Hebrews 9:14; 10:14).

Matthew 27:50-51
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and gave up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.
† The tearing of the temple veil at Jesus' death was a powerful sign. The barrier associated with the Most Holy Place was torn from top to bottom at the very moment Christ gave His life (Matthew 27:50-51).
† The cross established the basis of access through Christ, while Hebrews explains the covenantal transition during which the old system was becoming obsolete and approaching its disappearance (Hebrews 8:13; 9:8).
† The temple continued physically after the cross, but its covenantal authority had been surpassed by Christ. In AD 70 the old temple order was removed from history, leaving no legitimate rival to the heavenly priesthood and sanctuary established in Christ (Hebrews 8:1-2; 12:18-24).

Ephesians 2:18
for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
† Paul doesn't say believers will someday receive access after another prophetic event. He says we have access. Through Christ, both Jew and Gentile approach the same Father through the same Spirit (Ephesians 2:18).
† This destroys the idea that God's people are still standing outside waiting for covenantal access to arrive. Access was already being enjoyed through Christ as the New Covenant community was being established (Ephesians 2:13-18).
† There aren't two doors into God's presence, one for Jews and another for Gentiles. There isn't an earthly route through Jerusalem and a heavenly route through Christ. There is one access, through Christ, in one Spirit, to the Father (Ephesians 2:18; John 14:6).

Ephesians 2:19-22
So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
† God's people aren't described as waiting outside God's house. They're members of His household. They're being built together as God's dwelling place in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22).
† The New Covenant temple isn't constructed from stone. It's a people united to Christ. God's presence among His people is therefore greater than anything the old Jerusalem temple could provide (1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Peter 2:4-5).
† This is the movement of the biblical story, from restricted access under the old covenant to fellowship with God through Christ. God's people aren't waiting for another physical sanctuary because they themselves are God's dwelling place in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:21-22).

Hebrews 12:22-24
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.
† Hebrews doesn't tell these believers that someday they might come to Mount Zion. It says they had come to the heavenly Jerusalem and to Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant (Hebrews 12:22-24).
† This is the destination toward which the old covenant shadows were pointing. God's people weren't being led toward another earthly mountain and another earthly sanctuary. They were being brought to heavenly Zion through Christ (Hebrews 12:18-24).
† The contrast couldn't be stronger. Sinai represented fear, distance, and restriction. Zion represents access, fellowship, citizenship, and the completed mediation of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 12:18-24).

Revelation 21:3
And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,
† The Bible's covenantal story reaches its glorious goal with God dwelling with His people. What the tabernacle foreshadowed becomes the reality of New Covenant fellowship (Revelation 21:3).
† Revelation's New Jerusalem isn't a return to old covenant separation. The city represents the completed covenantal order in which God's dwelling is with His people and the former order has passed away (Revelation 21:1-4).
† We aren't waiting outside the door hoping someday God will invite us inside. In Christ, God's people have access, citizenship, fellowship, and His presence. The shadows have given way to the reality (Hebrews 10:19-22; Ephesians 2:18-22).

Historical References
† Josephus described the Jerusalem temple with its successive courts, restricted areas, priestly boundaries, and sacred sanctuary. His description demonstrates how visibly the temple system communicated degrees of access and separation in first-century Jewish worship (Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, Book 5, Chapter 5).
† Josephus also recorded the catastrophic destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70. The physical center of the old sacrificial system was consumed and demolished during the Roman siege (Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, Book 6, Chapters 4-5).
† Tacitus described the Roman siege of Jerusalem under Titus and identified the temple as the central stronghold of the city. His Roman account independently confirms the historical setting in which Jerusalem and its temple fell (Tacitus, Histories, Book 5).
† Eusebius later connected Jerusalem's catastrophe with the generation that rejected Christ and recorded the tradition that believers in Jerusalem departed before the city's destruction (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Book 3, Chapters 5-7).
† These historical witnesses don't establish our doctrine, Scripture does. They provide historical confirmation that the first-century temple order that formed the background of Hebrews disappeared in the catastrophe of AD 70 (Hebrews 8:13; 9:8).

How It Applies To Us Today
† We don't have to live as though we're spiritually standing outside a locked door. Through Jesus Christ, we have access to the Father now (Ephesians 2:18).
† We don't need an earthly priest to bring us into God's presence. Jesus is our great High Priest, and through Him we can draw near with confidence (Hebrews 4:14-16; 10:19-22).
† We don't need another temple in Jerusalem. God's people are His temple and His dwelling place in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22).
† We don't need another animal sacrifice. Jesus offered the sacrifice that accomplished what the blood of animals never could, and His sacrifice doesn't need to be repeated (Hebrews 9:11-14; 10:10-14).
† We don't need to wait for another covenant age to arrive. Christ is the mediator of the New Covenant, and God's people belong to heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22-24).
† When we pray, we're not shouting toward a distant God from outside the sanctuary. We approach our Father through Christ with confidence because the way has been opened (Hebrews 4:16; 10:19-22).
† The gospel isn't a message telling God's people to wait at the door. It's the announcement that through Jesus Christ the barrier has been removed, reconciliation has been accomplished, and access to the Father is ours.
† No more waiting at the door. No more old covenant barriers. No more earthly priest standing between God's people and their Father. No more wondering when the way will finally be opened. Through Jesus Christ, we have access to God now (Ephesians 2:18).

Q & A Appendix
Q: Does Hebrews 9:8 mean nobody could have any relationship with God before AD 70?
A: No. Faithful people knew God long before AD 70. Hebrews is discussing covenantal access represented by the sanctuary system and the transition from the old covenant order to the full reality established through Christ (Hebrews 9:8-12).

Q: Didn't the veil tear when Jesus died around AD 30?
A: Yes. The tearing of the veil demonstrated what Christ's sacrifice accomplished and announced the opening of the way through Him. The old covenant system nevertheless continued through the transition period until its approaching disappearance, historically culminating in the temple's destruction in AD 70 (Matthew 27:50-51; Hebrews 8:13).

Q: Do Christians need a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem?
A: No. Jesus entered the true heavenly sanctuary, and believers themselves are God's dwelling place through the Spirit (Hebrews 9:24; Ephesians 2:19-22).

Q: Do we need another priesthood to approach God?
A: No. Jesus permanently holds His priesthood and is able to save completely those who approach God through Him (Hebrews 7:24-25).

Q: Are believers still waiting to gain access to God?
A: No. Paul says through Christ we have access in one Spirit to the Father, and Hebrews tells believers to draw near with confidence (Ephesians 2:18; Hebrews 10:19-22).

Q: Where is God's temple today?
A: God's people are being built together as His dwelling place in the Spirit. The New Covenant temple is a people in Christ, not another stone sanctuary waiting to be constructed in Jerusalem (Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:4-5).

Q: What is the great message of this fulfilled reality?
A: The door isn't closed. The way isn't waiting to be revealed. Jesus has accomplished redemption, He is our High Priest, and through Him we have access to our Father (Hebrews 9:12; 10:19-22; Ephesians 2:18).

† This is the fulfilled perspective we proclaim at Fulfilled Prophecies †
© Fulfilled Prophecies - Dan Maines.

Source Index
† Hebrews 9:8; Hebrews 9:11-12; Hebrews 9:24; Hebrews 10:19-22; Matthew 27:50-51; Ephesians 2:18; Ephesians 2:19-22; Hebrews 12:22-24; Revelation 21:3
† Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, Book 5, Chapter 5; Book 6, Chapters 4-5; Tacitus, Histories, Book 5; Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Book 3, Chapters 5-7