Reflections on Revelation Day 194. Why is the sanctuary so important to understanding the Book of Revelation? https://smlr.nu/ror-194  

 Day 194 

What is the importance of all this Sanctuary information? Why does the book of Revelation place so much value on it? Some other related questions: Where does God live? Does God need judgment books (scrolls)? Does he need to keep a written record? Does God sit on a chair (throne)? Can Omnipresence be limited to one limited space (a chair/throne)? Do angels actually have wings? 

God is omnipresent (everywhere at once.) Read Psalm 139:5-10. However, He has chosen a specific place to meet with the angels, with non-fallen worlds…and with us when we will finally be with Him. 

 Scientists tell us we will soon be able to communicate with dolphins! What would we say to them? How would we tell them about things on land? We could only talk to them with things they would understand: fish, sand, waves, water, bottoms of boats etc. 

How does God communicate with us? He uses concepts that our limited finite minds can understand. Thrones represent rulership, wings represent flight, judgement books represent records being kept and so on. 

The earthly Hebrew sanctuary, we are told, was modelled on the heavenly one as “a shadow,” a faint reflection of the vastness and glory of the heavenly sanctuary which is the abiding place of the King of Kings, where 100 million angels stand before him (Dan 7:10). That temple; filled with the glory of the eternal throne were seraphim, its shining guardians, veil their faces in adoration. Yet important truths concerning the heavenly sanctuary and the great work there carried forward for man’s redemption were taught by the earthly sanctuary and its services. Revelation is clear on the continued importance of us embracing this theme even in the NT. 

God dwells in His Sanctuary in Heaven; “the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man” (Heb. 8:2). The earthly sanctuary was “the copy and shadow” of that sanctuary (Heb. 8:5). “The dwelling place” of Yahweh 1 Kings 8:30. “For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven, the Lord viewed the earth” (Psalm 102:19). 

Not only the Book of Revelation, but the entire NT is full of sanctuary terminology and imagery. The book of Revelation cannot be understood without appreciating how the Jewish Sanctuary Service and all its symbolism and typology overlays the entire book. As we have seen the structure of the book is based on the daily and yearly services of the Sanctuary. This Sanctuary service provides the bone structure upon which the entire 22 chapters of Revelation are built.