Welcome to the Holiest of Holies

Jacob when fleeing from Esau, whose inheritance he had usurped, reaches the city of Luz, 65 Kilometers from Beersheba, there he has a dream –

He saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

God communicates to Jacob, whose ancestors had a covenant with the living God. His previous deceits are left unmentioned, the covenant is renewed. The presence of God is made manifest.  

Centuries later, Moses – another man marked at birth by God, sees a burning bush that is never consumed, this bush is a symbol for men and women who have God dwelling in them and do not get consumed. God tells Moses “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 

In the course of his life, he gets instructions on building a tabernacle, a dwelling place for God. The Lord said to Moses, “…let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8). “I will put My tabernacle in your midst, and My soul shall not loathe you” (Leviticus 26:11). The most important day was the annual Day of Atonement. On that day the high priest made atonement for the sins of himself, of the other priests, and for the transgressions of all the Israelites. On that day only, the high priest went into the Most Holy.  

Bible is replete with references to the Holy of Holies. We see sparks of it in the Old Testament. Moses is shown a pattern of it in the mountain, and asked to replicate it. It is a place where God meets man. This most Holy Place, was separated by a curtain, Only the high priest was allowed to enter, not even Moses was allowed. 

As some writers (Josephus and Philo) put it, it was a place beyond time, beyond physical matter, it was a place of transformation and transfiguration.  Ezekiel sees the chariot of God in a vision, how, in an instant the chariot could traverse billions of miles to appear in front of him, Time does not seem to be an issue, and that vision has commonalities with the Holy of Holies, both exist outside time. God can take you to that place of timelessness where a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day. (2 Peter 3:8), St Augustine says to God – “Your today is eternity”

The veil was what separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place, the Priest who entered it, represented the entire Jewish population. He bore the sins! He entered with blood. And when Jesus entered into the heavenly tabernacle with his own blood, the curtain of the temple was torn into two. 

In Ezekiel’s temple vision the waters flow out of the temple and gives life to everything it touches, even the dead sea. On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stands up and cries out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

Dears, are you ready to enter the Holy of Holies? We have not lived life till we have gone in and come out of the Holy of Holies. We love to be in the outer courts and offer sacrifices there. Sometimes, like the tribes of Israel, we may live close to the tabernacle, Yet, not go to the Holy of Holies. 

It is a place of intensity, seriousness and rebirth. Seriousness, because you have been granted access by the sacrifice of the most precious thing in the whole world, the blood of Jesus. 

It was the place where the great priest Zechariah was struck dumb. Uzziah touches the ark which was previously kept in the Holy of Holies, to prevent it from falling, yet he dies. It is not a place for curiosity, the men of Bethshemesh see the ark and they are struck dead. It is an unabashedly private space between you and God. No one comes in. It is the place where God reveals himself to you. As Thomas Kempis writes, He to whom the Eternal Word speaks is free from theorizing. For from this Word are all things and of Him all things speak– the Beginning Who also speaks to us. A person who has been to the Holy of Holies, will not dwell on probabilities, his leap of faith or risks will not be calculated, because he knows things beyond knowledge, in the words of Apostle Paul, he will know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge. This is the place of enlargement of the soul. This is the place of crucifixion of soul. It is the place where morality and order are defined by the Holy Spirit, not by man-made laws. 

The ancient theologians had a term for, capax Dei – capacity for God. This is the blinding paradox, where heaven of heavens cannot contain God, yet he makes his abode in us. John writes, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”

Dear sisters, let us enter into the Holy of Holies. We have the boldness to enter by the blood of the lamb in a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body. Let our hearts not be shaken. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

The Holy Spirit invites you today to his presence in the holiest of holies because your spirit itself is the temple of the Holy Spirit. 

God bless you!