“Bible places: the Holy of Holies”
Exodus 40:1-3
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus.
We know a lot about our world--things to see, places to go. But there are a lot of things we can’t see, and places we could never go.
Take the Coca-Cola recipe vault, for example. Now we know that the drink uses cola nuts and coca leaves. But the rest is a trade secret that only a few have ever known. After John Pemberton invented it back in 1886, his son, Asa Candler, wrote it down in 1919. Then he put it in a vault. And now that vault sits on display in the Coca-Cola museum in downtown Atlanta, Georgia where it’s been since 1925.
Seeing as how consumers drink more than 1.8 billion servings of it a day, in over two hundred countries around the world, and since it’s one of the most valuable brands in the world, odds are pretty slim you’ll ever get inside.
Every heard of “Club 33”? Probably not. And I’m not surprised. You can’t go there either. Located in Disneyland, it’s one of the most closed places in the world.
You see, when Walt built his first Disneyland, he wanted to set up his own VIP lounge just like so many other attractions around the world. So he contacted thirty-three corporate sponsors, (that’s how it got its name--Club 33), like Eastman Kodak, Monsanto, and Bell Telephone, and promised to provide their executives with exclusive access.
Can you be a member too? You could, but it’ll cost you $50,000, plus an additional $15,000 a year (pocket change!). And by the way, you’ll have to be patient. There’s a fourteen-year wait!
And one more--think of Iron Mountain (not the one in Michigan). This one’s in western Pennsylvania, about sixty miles outside of Pittsburg. It’s the home to some of the world’s most priceless treasures, like Fortune 500 company databases, twenty-seven million original negatives of the world’s most famous photographs, and original master recordings of artists like Elvis and Frank Sinatra. Not only is it two hundred feet underground, it’s protected by three fire trucks and numerous security guards carrying AR-15s. They say that it can survive a terrorist attack or even a nuclear blast more than once (!), and that its records will last at least five thousand years.
Can you visit there? Not a chance.
And strangely enough, there’s another place, a holy place, that only one man, once a year, could ever enter. It’s called, in Hebrew, “Kodesh ha-kodeshim.” In English, it’s the Holy of Holies, the Most Holy Place.
Please turn in your Bible to page 101, as I read the words of our text. Exodus chapter 40, beginning at verse 1: “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘On the first day of the first month you shall erect the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. And you shall put in it the ark of the testimony, and you shall screen the ark with the veil. And you shall bring in the table and arrange it, and you shall bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. And you shall put the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and set up the screen for the door of the tabernacle. You shall set the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. And you shall set up the court all around, and hang up the screen for the gate of the court.’”
So what’s going on? Well, to put it simply, the Lord considers worship to be really, really important. In fact, when Moses was up on Mt. Sinai for those forty days, not only did the Lord give him the Ten Commandments, He also told him how he and his people should worship. So starting in Exodus chapter 25, and going all the way to chapter 31, (that’s seven chapters!), He said exactly how they should worship Him.
Listen to some of it: “They shall make an ark of acacia wood...you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out...you shall make a table of acacia wood and you shall overlay it with pure gold...you shall make a lampstand of pure gold...you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them...You shall make the altar of acacia wood...you shall make the court of the tabernacle.”
And if that wasn’t enough, the Lord even told them how to make garments for the priests: “They shall make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and of fine twined linen, skillfully worked...you shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in skilled work and...you shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, ‘Holy to the Lord.’”
Time after time, the Lord said, “You shall do...you shall make...you shall command.” Why? Because worship is important to the Lord!
And worship should be important to us too!
You see, when we gather together each Sunday morning, it’s not just us here at Faith Lutheran Church. We stand with the saints and the angels of all places and times to sing with them their loud, joy-filled, unending song: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
To do any less is never good enough.
Let’s look again at the text. Exodus chapter 40, verse 1: “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘On the first day of the first month you shall erect the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. And you shall put in it the ark of the testimony, and you shall screen the ark with the veil.”
It’s amazing if you think about it. As far as we know, the universe is some ninety-one billion light years from one end to the other (dimensions we could never even possibly imagine!). And somewhere in the middle of this incredibly vast, vast universe is a little place, a little blue and green ball called Earth.
And on this Earth, there was a country called Israel, (about the size of New Jersey), a place that the people of Israel called home.
And in that country, there was a city, a capital city, called Jerusalem. And on the eastern side of that city, there was a Tabernacle. And inside that Tabernacle was a Holy Place and, more importantly, a Most Holy Place, the Holy of Holies. And inside that place was just one thing, a box, if you will--the Ark of the Covenant. And on top of that box were two golden angels with their wings pressed forward, resting over the center, the Mercy Seat.
It’s the place where God dwelt.
Even more, this was the first time the Lord had ever done anything like this! To Adam and Eve, He revealed Himself as they “heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden.” To Abraham, He came as a flaming torch and a smoking pot of fire. To Jacob, He revealed Himself as a man with whom he could wrestle. To Moses, He came in a burning bush that was not consumed. And to Israel, He showed Himself as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
But now He would “tabernacle” with them. He would live with them. It’s the place the Lord Himself would call home.
No wonder He said, time after time, “You shall do...you shall make...you shall command.”
So what do we know about this “Holy of Holies”?
Actually, there are some things we do know! First, it was a room, a small room, in the shape of a perfect cube--ten cubits by ten cubits by ten cubits (in feet, that’s fifteen by fifteen by fifteen). And inside was just one thing--the Ark of the Covenant.
And before that was a thick, heavy veil, adorned with cherubim, a beautiful work of art. It was so thick and so strong that Jewish historian Josephus once wrote that horses tied to each side couldn’t tear it apart.
And only once, each year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, only one man, the high priest, would ever dare to go inside.
But let me tell you, it wasn’t easy. A week before, he left his home and went to a place where he was completely alone, so he wouldn’t accidentally touch or eat anything unclean. And there he’d wash his body and prepare his heart.
Then on the night before, he stayed up all night, praying and reading God’s Word to purify his heart. Then on the Day of Atonement, he washed his body from head to toe, and dressed in pure, unstained, white linen. Then he went into the Holy of Holies one time, two times, three times, to pour blood on the Ark of the Covenant, the Mercy Seat, to make atonement for his sins, for the sins of the priests, and for the sins of all the people.
Sound familiar? It should, because that’s exactly what Jesus, our Great High Priest, did--not in the Tabernacle or in the Temple, but on the cross.
Remember? Just like the high priest, He prepared a week before, by His triumphant entry into Jerusalem. And on Thursday, just like the high priest, He stayed up all night before His great sacrifice.
But He wasn’t clothed in rich, white linen like the Jewish high priest. He was stripped of the only clothes He had. And instead of being cheered on by the people, like the high priest was, He was laughed at, ridiculed, mocked, and jeered, abandoned by nearly everyone He loved. And even when He came before God in the midst of His great sacrifice, He didn’t hear words of encouragement, for even the Father turned His face away.
But when He breathed His last breath, and cried out, “It is finished,” you know what happened? That thick, heavy curtain that stood between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, the one that horses couldn’t even pull apart, tore in two from top to bottom.
So everyone, including you and me, could come into the very presence of God.
The story is told, a true story, about a black pastor who was sent to serve a large all-white church in Cincinnati, Ohio. His daughter, Leontine Kelly, remembered it as the most beautiful church she had ever seen.
It was a Gothic structure with beautiful polished wood. In the middle hung a large crystal chandelier. Presidents had worshipped there. William and Helen Taft were married there.
And the parsonage was large too. Every one of the pastor’s children had their own room.
And beneath that parsonage was a huge cellar. She said she never went down there because it was dark and dingy, with a couple of dim light bulbs that hung from long wires. Beyond that, there were cobwebs and shadows.
And once, when her brothers were down in that cellar, they called for her to come down too. Apparently, they had found a hole beside the furnace leading to a tunnel, and they wanted her to go in with them to explore it. Instead, she went up to her father and asked him to go down and “get those guys.”
But when he went downstairs, instead of scolding them, he said, “Let’s go over to church and check.”
Then when they went to the church, they found another hole beside the furnace, with even more tunnels. That’s when he told them the story of the Underground Railroad.
You see, once upon a time, when it was against the law to help slaves, there had been a network for them to escape to freedom. So the tunnels led from the church, out to the Ohio River, to Canada, and to freedom.
Then he said: “The greatness of this church is not in its gothic architecture, its beautiful furniture, or its crystal chandelier. The greatness of this church is below us. We are on hallowed ground.”
And so are we.
All this might seem so plain and simple--an altar, a pulpit, a lectern, some candles, and a font. But this is a place where God dwells, a holy place, hallowed ground.
May He bless us as we worship Him.
Fount of ev’ry blessing, purify my spirit, trusting only in Your merit. Like the holy angels, worshiping before You, may I ceaselessly adore You. Let Your will, ever still, rule Your Church terrestrial, as the hosts celestial, for Jesus’ sake. Amen