2. As unto the use of these “holies,” they were duriruma rav &rn- Swev. *Avrfrumrov is sometimes used for Tpay [ue avr TOU rirov,— that which is signified by the type;” and this we commonly call the antitype. So is the word used by the apostle Peter, 1 Epist. ui. 21;—the substance of what is typified. Some- times it is used for riqog dvr} rod xpéywarog,— the type and resem- blance of the thing signified.” So is it here used, and well rendered “figures.” And what the apostle calls irode/ywara in the foregoing verse, he here calls dvrirura. They are therefore the same; only they express different respects and notions of the same things. As the delineation and representation of heavenly things in them were obscure and dark, they were brodefywara, “similitudes,” resemblances of heavenly things; asthat representation which they had and made of them was a transcript from the original pattern and idea in the mind of God, and showed unto Moses in the mount, they were dyrirvra, or express “ figures.”
And they were thus “ figures of the true;” that is, the true holies. “True” in these expressions is opposed unto shadowy and typical, not unto that which is false or adulterated. So John i. 17, 18, “real,” “substantial;’ the things originally signi- fied in all these institutions.
This is a brief description of the place whereinto the high priest under the law did enter, wherein his great privilege did consist, and whereon the efficacy of all his other administrations did de- pend. And it is described, 1. With respect unto its institution; it was “the most holy place,” peculiarly dedicated unto the reception of the especial pledges of the presence of God. 2. As unto its fabric; it was “made with hands;” though of an excellent structure, directed by God himself, and framed by his especial command, yet was it in itself no more but the work of men’s hands. 3. As unto its prin. cipal end and use; it was a “ figure” and “resemblance of heavenly things.” All God’s appointments in his service have their proper season, beauty, glory, and use; which are all given them by his appointment. Even the things that were made with men’s hands had so, whilst they had the force of a divine institution. To enter into the presence of God, represented by the typical pledges of it in this place, was the height of what the high priest under the law at- tained unto. And this he did on the ground of the dedication and purification of the tabernacle by the blood of the sacrifices of goats
°Avrir ure.
Tay arnbiwor.
~—S seS”
PT ae ~e
VER. 24. | EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 381
and calves. And it may be said, ‘If the Lord Jesus Christ be the | high priest of the church, hither or into this place he ought to have entered.’ I answer, He ought indeed so to have done, if by his sacrifice he had purified only earthly things; but whereas he had no such design, nor were the temporal things of the whole creation worth the purification with one drop of his blood, but they were things spiritual and heavenly that were purified by his sacrifice, he was not to “enter into the holy places made with hands, the figures of the true, but into heaven itself.”
Secondly, In opposition unto what is denied of him, and which is therein ascribed unto the high priest of the law, the +2 place whereinto he did enter is called “ heaven itself.” Park ia ‘ia The entrance spoken of was sacerdotal, not triumphant phe and regal, as I have elsewhere declared. And by this “heaven itself,” a peculiar place is intended. The apostle hath in several places affirmed that in his ascension he “passed through the heavens,’ and “was made higher than the heavens.” Wherefore by this “heaven itself,” some place that is called so by the way of eminency is intended. This in the Scripture is sometimes called “the heaven of heavens,” and “the third heaven;” the place of the peculiar residence of the presence, majesty, and glory of God, and of his throne; where all the blessed saints enjoy his presence, and all his holy angels minister unto him ;—a place above all these aspect- able heavens, the heavens which we do behold.
The entrance of Christ into heaven as our high priest was into it
-as'the temple of God; wherein the chief thing considerable is the
throne of grace. Tor it is that which answers unto and was signi- fied by the entrance of the high priest into the most holy place in the tabernacle: and there was nothing therein but the ark and the mercy-seat, with the cherubim of glory overshadowing them; which, as we have declared, was a representation of a throne of grace. He entered likewise into heaven triumphantly, as it was the palace of God, the throne of the great King, and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; but this he did with respect unto the execution of his kingly office with authority and power For as the offices of Christ are distinct, and their exercise is so also, so heaven itself, wherein he now dischargeth them all, is proposed unto us under diverse considerations, distinctly answering unto the work that the Lord Christ hath yet to perform therein.