During the Last Supper, Jesus told the disciples that He was going away (John 13:36–37). When Simon Peter asked where the Lord was going, Jesus answered indirectly: “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” Then Jesus told them He was going “to prepare a place” for them and that He would “come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3). His words seemed mysterious to them then and may still seem confusing to us today.

In Hebrews 9, we learn that Jesus did not prepare a place for us by working with brick and mortar or even gold and pearls. Jesus went through “the greater and more perfect tabernacle,” which is not a part of this creation and not made with human hands (v. 11). He went to present the offering that would make it possible for us to follow. That offering did not consist of the blood of bulls and goats, but “the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God” (v. 14). This was the true offering to which all the sacrifices in the Law of Moses pointed (vv. 18–22).

The Mosaic Law offered only a temporary reprieve from sin, providing an external and ceremonial solution (v. 13). When Jesus entered the true Tabernacle, He obtained “eternal redemption” for us (v. 12). This provides us with a clear conscience and has made us part of a “new covenant” that is better than the covenant with Moses (v. 15). As we serve Christ, we enter into a new Advent, waiting for Jesus to return. We can trust that “He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him” (v. 28).

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