Article April 21, 1945 Issue

"The Holiest of all"

DOROTHY EILEEN HEYWOOD-DOVE

The Hebrew sanctuary, built in obedience to the pattern shown to Moses in the mount of God, is described by the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews in part as follows (9:1-3): "The first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary ...wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all."

The people were exhorted by the Psalmist to "enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise" (Ps. 100:4), but they might not penetrate into the first—the "holy place" reserved for the priests; while into "the Holiest of all." or the Holy of Holies, only the high priest might enter, and that but once yearly on the great Day of Atonement. On this yearly visit, the purpose of the high priest's entrance into this sacred sanctuary was to make a sin offering or sacrifice for himself and for the errors of the people.

The sacrifices of animals, frequently referred to in the earlier Scriptures, typified the people's willingness to give. Their apprehension of the demands of the God they worshiped had not yet reached the higher understanding which calls for the sacrifice of all animal propensities in order that spiritualization of thought and life may replace the idolatrous concept of propitiating Deity with material offerings.

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