In this pericope the writer concentrated on the tabernacle and its provisions for cultic worship.254The word "first"(Gr. prote) links this section with the former one (cf. 8:13). The writer introduced two subjects in the first verse: regulations of divine worship, and the earthly sanctuary. He then proceeded to expound them in reverse order, as he often did in this homily (vv. 2-5 and 6-10).
"The writer is most concerned to stress that the disposition of the tabernacle and its cultic regulations expressed symbolically the imperfect and provisional character of the old Sinaitic covenant. His description emphasizes limited access and the inadequacy of the offerings."255
"The descriptions are based, not on the author's personal involvement in worship at Jerusalem . . ., but on scripture."256
It was natural for the writer to use the tabernacle for his lesson rather than the temple because he proceeded to associate this sanctuary with the giving of the Old Covenant at Sinai (cf. 8:5).
9:1-5 The "first covenant"was the Mosaic Covenant. The writer compared it first to the New Covenant that replaced it. The outer tabernacle (lit. dwelling place) was the holy place (v. 2) and the inner tabernacle the holy of holies (v. 3). "The table and the sacred bread"(v. 2) is a hendiadys for "the table of sacred bread."257
Many readers have understood verse 4 as saying that the altar of incense was in the holy of holies in the tabernacle. This seems to be a contradiction since the Old Testament located this altar in the holy place (Exod. 30:6; 40:3-5, 21-27).258The writer of Hebrews probably meant that the veil, not the holy of holies, had the altar of incense and the ark of the covenant connected with it (v. 3). These pieces of furniture were on either side of the veil. Describing it this way clarified that the writer meant the veil that hung between the holy place and the holy of holies.
A second problem is that this writer described the ark as having a golden jar of manna and Aaron's rod that budded init. The Old Testament says that these items were besidethe ark in the holy of holies (Exod. 16:32-34; Num. 17:10-11).
"It would at least seem reasonable to suppose that if the urn and the rod were originally placed in front of the ark, yet subsequently, for the sake of convenience (for example, when carrying the ark from one place to another), they were placed inside it."259
"According to the rabbis, the ark disappeared at the time of the early prophets (Mishnah, Yoma5:2; Shekalim6:1f.); and there was a tradition that Jeremiah hid it (2 Macc. 2:4ff.)."260
The writer declined to speak of the tabernacle furnishings in more detail (v. 5) because his main purpose was to contrast the two rituals and the two covenants.
9:6-10 He passed on to the "regulations of divine service"(v. 1) in the Old Covenant to show its inferiority further. The "outer tabernacle"is the holy place (v. 6), and "the second"is the holy of holies (v. 7). The high priest entered the holy of holies only once a year on the Day of Atonement to offer the special sacrifices for that day (Lev. 16:2). His offering then covered those sins of the people that they committed ignorantly as opposed to those they committed in deliberate apostasy (cf. Lev. 4:1-2; 5:17-19). Some ignorance is culpable; sins of this kind do matter. In Israel the punishment for deliberate rebellion against the Mosaic Covenant was death. It is about this apostasy that the writer warned his audience. He also comforted them with the assurance that their High Priest would deal gently with the misguided who sin ignorantly (5:2).
The writer clarified that the Holy Spirit intended to communicate the fact that the Levitical system did not provide access for the ordinary believer. The "holy place"is God's throne room in heaven, and the "outer [lit. first] tabernacle"refers to the earthly tabernacle and its successors, namely, the temples in Israel (v. 8).
"The front compartment' (he prote skene) becomes a spatial metaphor for the time when the first covenant' (he prote diatheke) was in force. As an illustration for the old age, which is now in process of dissolution (8:13), it symbolizes the total first covenant order with its daily and annual cultic ritual (9:6, 7). Once the first has been invalidated, the second becomes operative (see 10:9). In the figurative language of the writer, the front compartment of the tabernacle was symbolic of the present age (ton kaipon ton enestekota), which through the intrusion of the kairos diorthoseos, the time of correction' (v 10), has been superseded . . ."261
The Old Covenant system of worship did not meet the deepest need of God's people, namely, intimate personal relationship with God. Its rites and ceremonies extended mainly to external matters until God would provide a better system at "a time of reformation"(v. 10).
This comparison helps us keep externals in their proper perspective as secondary to inward reality with God. Relationship with God purifies the conscience. It is possible to fulfill all the outward obligations of religion and still have a conscience that is not right with God (v. 9). This is one of the tragic inadequacies of religion that does not involve relationship with God.
"The necessity of a cleansed conscience is insisted upon throughout the letter [9:9, 14; 10:2, 22; 13:18]. A conscience stained with sin is the one effective barrier to man's fellowship with God . . ."262
"The reasons for detailing the arrangement of the tabernacle and its furnishings in 9:2-5 is manifestly to show the lack of access to God under the old cultus. This, in turn, provides a framework for the development of certain deficiencies in the cultic regulations that had been imposed under the terms of the Sinaitic covenant in 9:6-10."263
"The greatest festival of the Jewish year paradoxically shows most clearly the limitations of the old dispensation and its high priesthood."264
The Old Covenant sanctuary was inferior for five reasons. It was an earthly sanctuary (v. 1), it was a type of something greater (vv. 2-5), and it was inaccessible to the people (vv. 6-7). Furthermore it was only temporary (v. 8) and its ministry was external rather than internal (vv. 9-10).265
