I grew up using the term “sanctuary” to refer to the large room in our church where we met for worship, prayer, and the reading of God’s Word.  In fact, from time to time I still catch myself about to call our church’s main auditorium the sanctuary.  I say, “catch myself,” because I don’t think it’s appropriate to use such a label for a place anymore.  And I say, “anymore,” because I think there was a time that it was appropriate.  However, something happened with the event of Jesus’ death and resurrection that forever precludes us from understanding one single place as a sanctuary today.  

The idea of a sanctuary, or a place where God’s unique presence resided, goes back to the days of Moses.  After the abolition of Israelite slavery and mass departure from Northern Africa, God instructed these Semitic nomads to build a portable sanctuary (called the Tabernacle).  Though in the form of an elaborate tent, it would provide the early concept for the permanent sanctuary (called the Temple).

The most significant element in the elaborate Jewish Tabernacle, or as it finally came to be, the Temple, was the Most Holy Place.  This is where the ornately designed ark of the covenant resided, symbolizing God’s presence.  An enormously think veil or curtain divided this sanctuary or sacred room from all the other areas in the Temple (Exodus 26:32-34).  In fact, this room was so sacred that the only the priest could enter.  Yet, not any priest, just the high priest.  And not at any time, only one day each year—the Day of Atonement, on which the high priest sprinkled animal blood upon the ark.  It was such a serious thing to go into the presence of God that the high priest would have a rope tied around his waist so he could be pulled out, in case he had in anyway not prepared himself prior to entrance, and had been struck dead by God.  For God is infinitely holy and humanity is desperately wicked (hence, the need for a blood sacrifice).  The high priest would also have a type of bells sown onto his cloths so the other priests would know if he had stopped moving (not a good sign!).

So, what does this all have to do with Easter? 
This brief description of the Old Testament Temple is just a sketch of how God’s own room—the sanctuary—was to be understood and revered.  Revered because this was the closest a person could get to the very presence of the God of the universe.  And so, the idea of a veil or curtain took on special meaning.  It was a thing which separated the intimate presence of God from His people—both for our good, and for our detriment.

Where is holy?
One of the most fabulous images in the Gospels is a symbolic picture of what happened to the earth at the very moment of Jesus’ death.  The Gospels tell us that at the precise instant Jesus died the great curtain, which acted as the doorway to the Most Holy Place, was torn in two.  And not only that, but it was torn from top to bottom, signifying that God Himself had been the one responsible for this act (Mt 27:50-51).  And because of this the sanctuary no longer exists.  However, it’ not that we’ve lost anything of God’s presence by not having a single sacred location where the Spirit of God dwells.  For the sanctuary hasn’t shrunk, it’s enlarged.  It expanded from within four walls to encompass the four corners of the earth.  The entire world is now holy.  And the Spirit of God dwells not in one room in a Temple in the center of a city (Jerusalem), but in the hearts of repentant followers of Jesus. 

Therefore, all of our activity takes on sacredness.  We are to love God with all of our beings (intellect, imagination, desires, relationships, hobbies, possessions, vocation, etc.).  I am as near to God’s presence while changing the toilet paper roll in my bathroom as was the Jewish High Priest as he stood in the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement.  No part of a church building is a sanctuary.  It is what I do, not where I go, that is sacred.  Maybe the best way to say it is that when “church happens” it is each of us bringing the “sanctuaries” of God’s abiding presence—our very selves—into a place which is neither more nor less sacred than any other place. 

Jesus’ death pierced the veil of separation between the sacred and the secular.  And much as spring takes over a bleak winter landscape, Jesus’ sacrifice enlarged what is sacred and holy.  God’s presence didn’t depart when the Temple’s sanctuary curtain was torn; it invaded and transformed a cold world, and brought our safely into the presence of God.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. Read Hebrews 9.
2. How have your received traditions or church background about what church is been challenged by the teachings of the New Testament?
3. How do understanding the images and elements in the Old Testament Temple enlarge your understanding of the New Testament?