In Hebrews 4 through 7, we see that Christ is the One better than Aaron, who as a high priest is a type of Christ. The Lord Jesus first was sent from God to us through incarnation (2:14) to be our Apostle (3:1), our Author, our Leader (2:10), the One superior to Moses (3:3), and our real Joshua (4:8) to bring us, His partners (1:9; 3:14), into glory and rest (2:10; 4:11). He then went back from us to God through resurrection and ascension (5:5-6) to be our High Priest to bear us in the presence of God and to care for all our needs (2:17-18; 4:15).
As the High Priest, Christ is continually in the Holy of Holies. Our High Priest is not at the altar offering the sacrifices, nor in the Holy Place preparing the bread of the Presence, lighting the lamps, and burning the incense. He is in the Holy of Holies. Most Christians only have a Christ who is at the altar, that is, a Christ on the cross. Many hymns speak of the crucified Christ. Some Christians only have a Christ in the Holy Place. The highest attainment in their spiritual seeking is that of a Christ preparing the bread of the Presence, lighting the lamp, and burning the incense in the Holy Place. They have missed the High Priest in the Holy of Holies. The main function of our High Priest today is neither at the altar nor in the Holy Place but in the Holy of Holies, where God’s presence and shekinah glory are. Yes, He was once on the cross, but as 1:3 reveals, His work on the cross has been finished. Now, having finished His work, He is sitting at the right hand of God in the heavens. No place is closer to God than this. The book of Hebrews was written to help us come forward to this Christ, who is now in the presence of God.
The Christ who is in the Holy of Holies is not merely our Savior, Redeemer, Apostle, or Captain of salvation; He is our High Priest. In the Holy of Holies He is ministering God into us. We should forget our environment, weaknesses, troubles, and even ourselves and remember that today Jesus Christ is our High Priest in the Holy of Holies. As long as we have such a High Priest, we have everything we need.
According to the Old Testament, whenever the high priest went into the presence of God in the Holy of Holies, he bore upon his shoulders two onyx stones on which were engraved the names of the children of Israel (Exo. 28:9-12). He also wore the breastplate in which were set twelve precious stones engraved with the names of the children of Israel (vv. 15-30). This signifies that the people of Israel were on the shoulder and breast of the high priest. Since the shoulder signifies strength and the breast signifies love, the people of God were on the strength and in the love of the high priest. When the high priest was in the Holy of Holies, he brought all the people of God along with him. In the eyes of God, when he was there, all the people of God were there with him. Likewise, when God looks at Christ, our High Priest in the Holy of Holies, He sees us upon His shoulder and breast. Our High Priest in the Holy of Holies in the heavens bears us and wears us before God. Even now we are upon His shoulder and upon His breast in the Holy of Holies. We are there with Him in the shekinah glory of God.
As Christ bears us before God in the Holy of Holies, He ministers God into our being. When the apostle Paul prayed to the Lord, asking Him to remove the thorn (2 Cor. 12:7-8), the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness” (v. 9). Instead of removing that thorn, the Lord imparted Himself into Paul as grace, enabling the apostle to know how precious and sufficient He is. This experience of Christ as our High Priest who bears us on His shoulder and breast and ministers God into us is an experience in the Holy of Holies, where we enjoy God Himself and all His riches. When we enter into this experience, it is difficult to say where we are or what is happening. We can only say that we are upon the shoulders and breast of our High Priest and that He is ministering something comforting and strengthening into us. This experience of Christ as our High Priest is the highest experience and enjoyment. We all must learn to stay here on His shoulders and on His breast in the Holy of Holies. We should not be content to remain as outer-court Christians; neither should we be Christians staggering in the Holy Place. We must press on into the Holy of Holies, where God’s presence and shekinah glory are.
This experience of Christ as our High Priest undoubtedly is in the heavens. However, it is also in our spirit and in the church because the church today is God’s habitation in our spirit. Christ, the heavenly ladder which joins earth to heaven and brings heaven to earth, is in our spirit. By the habitation of God and the heavenly ladder, the Holy of Holies in the heavens is joined to our spirit. The wonderful Christ is both in the heavens and also in our spirit. Romans 8:34 says that Christ is at the right hand of God interceding for us, and Romans 8:10 says that Christ is also within us. There are not two Christs, one in the heavens and one within us; neither is it a matter of one Christ at two different times. Just as the electricity in the power plant is joined to our homes, so the Christ in the third heaven is joined to our spirit. If by the flow of electricity two places can be made one, how much more can our wonderful Christ be both in the heavens as well as in our spirit!