The tabernacle and Christ

The High Priest

In the tabernacle of Moses · Exodus 25 to 40 · The mediator

The high priest was the one man appointed to bear the names of the people into God's presence, to offer the sacrifices, and to enter the most holy place on the Day of Atonement with atoning blood. The New Testament devotes long passages to declaring that Jesus is our great high priest, who by his own blood entered heaven itself and ever lives to intercede for us, a better priest of a better covenant.

Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.Hebrews 4:14 (KJV)

What the high priest was

Above all the priests of Israel stood one high priest, first Aaron and then his sons after him. He wore garments made for glory and for beauty: a breastplate set with twelve precious stones engraved with the names of the tribes, worn over his heart, and two onyx stones on his shoulders bearing the same names, so that he carried the whole people into God's presence upon his heart and upon his shoulders. On his forehead was a plate of gold engraved, Holiness to the LORD.

His work was to mediate between God and the people: to offer the sacrifices, to bless the people in God's name, and above all, once a year on the Day of Atonement, to pass alone through the veil into the most holy place, carrying blood to sprinkle on the mercy seat for his own sins and for the sins of the people. No one else could do it. The nearness of the whole nation to God depended on this one appointed man.

What it meant for Israel

The high priest embodied a mercy and a limitation at once. The mercy was that God provided a mediator, so that a sinful people need not approach him each one alone and unprepared; one man stood for them all, bearing their names before God. The limitation was that this priest was himself a sinner, who had first to offer for his own sins before he could offer for the people, and a mortal, who died and had to be replaced, so that there were many high priests over the centuries, none of them permanent.

And however faithfully he served, he could not finally finish the work. He entered the most holy place once a year and came out again; the sacrifices were offered again and again; the sin was covered but never taken away. The high priesthood met Israel's need for a mediator and at the same time cried out for a better one, a priest who was without sin, who would not die, and whose one offering would be enough forever.

How it is fulfilled in Christ

The book of Hebrews is largely given to this very theme, and states the fulfillment plainly: Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. Jesus is the priest Israel's priesthood pointed to. Unlike Aaron, he is sinless, for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Having no sin of his own, he had no need to offer for himself.

Where the old high priest entered with the blood of goats and calves, Christ by his own blood entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Where the old priests were many because death cut them off, Christ continueth ever, and hath an unchangeable priesthood; wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. He does not enter and withdraw; he has sat down, the work finished, and he lives to pray for his people still.

And he carries our names as the old priest carried the tribes, upon his heart and upon his shoulders, near to the love and borne by the strength of the Son of God. The gold plate on Aaron's brow, Holiness to the LORD, is answered by a priest who is himself holy, harmless, undefiled, and made higher than the heavens. In him the whole tabernacle comes to rest: he is the sacrifice on the altar, the light, the bread, the incense, the torn veil, the mercy seat, and the priest who carries us in. God came to dwell among his people in a tent of curtains; he dwells with them forever in his Son.

A priest who carries our names and our weakness

Two pieces of the high priest's dress tell the tenderest part of the story. On his shoulders he bore two stones engraved with the names of the tribes, and over his heart he wore the breastplate set with twelve stones bearing the same names. So the people were carried into God's presence in two places at once: on the shoulders, the place of strength, and over the heart, the place of love. He did not enter for himself alone; he entered bearing his people, borne up by his strength and held near to his love.

This is precisely how Christ our High Priest carries us. He appears in the presence of God for us, not empty-handed but bearing our names, upholding us by a strength that cannot fail and holding us in a love that will not let go. Neither death, nor life, nor things present, nor things to come, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, because it is his strength, not ours, that keeps us there, and his heart, not our worthiness, that holds us near.

And he is a priest who understands. The old high priest was a sinner who could at least sympathize with sinners; our High Priest is sinless, yet was in all points tempted like as we are, and so is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He has known hunger and grief and weariness and the sharpest testing, and he carries not only our names but our weakness into the presence of God. So the invitation of Hebrews follows: Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. In him the whole tabernacle has become a person, and the person is praying for us now.

This is explicit and extensively developed in the New Testament. Hebrews 4:14-16 and chapters 7 through 10 declare directly that Jesus is our great high priest, superior to Aaron, who entered heaven by his own blood and ever lives to intercede for us. The fulfillment is the plain teaching of Scripture.

Related: The mercy seat · The most holy place · Get the app · The whole tabernacle