II. THE EXALTED SPHERE OF HIS MINISTRY. The old tabernacle was made with bands. The genius of Aholiab and Bezaleel, the work of carpenter, spinner, and '\'ee.ver, were applied to make the holy tent. It was a narrow and prrishable fabric. Our Lord is now in heaven, which is not made with hands and by the assistance of men or angels. It is the direct creation of the infinite and all-sufficient power of Jehovah, where his holy angels and archangels dwell and worship. The place is suitable for the matchless dignity of the priest. The earthly tabernacle is fit for the weakness and sin of the earthly minister, but heaven with its brightness and purity is the proper tabernacle for the Son of God. III. 'l'HE SUPERIORITY OF ms ATONING BLOOD .. The victims whose blood was shed were unconscious of any purpose in their death. There was no willingness and no sympathy with the object of the sacrifice, and there was consequently nothing more than subjection to physical force, which deprived the death of moral value. Our Lord offered himself a willing Sacrifice, and his voluntary surrender to death has imparted to his work of suffering an inconceivable value and power. He is "the Lamb or God, who taketh away the sin of the world." He is now in the holy place as the one, all-sufficier.t High Priest, whose one sacrificial act has a vital and indestructible force in the govern- ment of God and the system of Divine grace. IV. THE FINALITY AND IBSUEB OF ms SACRIFICE. He entered once, and is therefore unlike the Jewish priest, who went in to the holiest of all year after year. It is the glory of Christ to do this thing once, and there needs no more sacrifice for sin. The redemption is not from year to year, but it has eternal issnes which, beginning by faith in him, now advances in constant acts of redemption through life, by which believers are redeemed from evil in its various forms, from the penal stroke of death, .i.nd from all the effects, traces, and influences of evil for evermore.-B. Vers. 13, 14.-0eremonial and spiritual purificati011,. There are here- I. THE ARRANGEMENTS FOB CEREMONIAL l'URIFICATION. A red heifer-the colour of red signifying the inflaming nature of sin-was to be slain by a priest ; but not the high priest, who was to abstain.from all contact with death. And the body and the blood were to be bumt outside the camp. Some of the blood was sprinkled towards the tabernacle, and during the process of burning, cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool were thrown into the fire. 'l'he ashes were laid up for use by those who had become ceremonially unclean by touching the dead, and for the purification of the house, furnitw·e, and utensils where a death had occu1Ted. Being mixed with water and sprinkled upon such persons and homes, on the third and seventh day the defilement was removed. This was the Divine arrangement for the- purity of Israel, and those who complied with the will of God enjoyed liberty of approach to his court.q, and a. share in the blessings of the tabernacle and priesthood. II. THE SUPERIOR GLORY AND EFFECT OF THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST, The writer had previously noticed the inferior nature and limited effect of animal sacrifices; aod here he rises from the blood of slain beasts, and the bodily cleansing they secured, to the Divine nature of our Lord, which gives an untold importance to bis ueath, and ensures the highest spiritual results in the purification of the conscience. By the "eternal Spirit" is commonly understood that glory which is described in the commencement of the Gospel of John. It is probable that the writer looked back to the passage in which ha declares that Jesus is "the Brightness of the Father's glory, and express Image of his person." It reminds us of his transfiguration, ll:11~ the glimpses of his superhuman dignity and power which lighted up his earthly m1mstr:'.(. It is a thought before which we stand in silent and essential wonder, and feel t~a_t it lifts the sacrifice of our Lord to a height of glory which transcends our clearest v1s1on. This sacrifice cleanses the conscience from "dead works." Death in the Old Testament always suggests pollution, The conscience which is defiled by dead works _sheds a clear and penetrating light on the disqualifying nature of sin, and the ex~lus10n from the service of God which it produces, The precious blood of Christ, wh1~h cleanses t~o conscience, makes it full of the life of love, gratitude, and filial ~erv1c_e. The fruit which comes from life is holiness now and hereafter it is everlasting hfe. It opens the prospect of fellowship with God, who is the "living God," a:n,d communes with bis people from off the mercy-seat. The life of those who are forgiven turns to God, and HEBREWS, II 268 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. [oR, IX, l-28,
the living God holds fellowship with them, which is the high privilege of believers now, and the pledge of its continuance in the world to come.-B.