The first tabernacle, that is, the Holy Place, is only a figure, not the reality. As we have seen, all the things in the Holy Place, such as the showbread table and the lampstand, are the types of Christ, not the reality.
The second tabernacle, which is the Holy of Holies, is realized by the new testament dispensation (9:3, 8, 10). The Holy of Holies is a reality. It is realized by the new covenant dispensation in which we now are experiencing its reality. The presence of God, the shekinah glory of God, God’s meeting with man, and God’s speaking, which are in the Holy of Holies, are all real. They are not types but realities which are fully realized and experienced by us in the new testament dispensation.
The old covenant age has been terminated by the death of Christ, and the new covenant dispensation has been inaugurated by His resurrection and ascension. In His ascension, He is the “High Priest of the good things that have come” (9:11). He is now ministering in “the greater and more perfect tabernacle” in the heavens to execute the new covenant for God’s economy.
Verse 19 says, “Having therefore, brothers, boldness for entering the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus.” The Holy of Holies today is in heaven, where the Lord Jesus is (9:12, 24). Then, how can we enter it while we are still on earth? The secret is our spirit, referred to in 4:12. The very Christ who is in heaven is also now in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22). He, as the heavenly ladder (Gen. 28:12; John 1:51), joins our spirit to heaven and brings heaven into our spirit. Whenever we turn to our spirit, we enter into the Holy of Holies. Here we meet with God who is on the throne of grace.
We enter the Holy of Holies by a “new and living way, which He dedicated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh” (v. 20). The way into the Holy of Holies has been cut. According to the Greek, the word “new” in this verse means “freshly slain.” Through Christ’s death on the cross, the way has been “freshly slain” for us. What was slain? Not only the flesh but the entire old creation. In this verse, the veil, which is His flesh, signifies the old creation, including us. On the veil were cherubim (Exo. 26:31) which signify the creatures (Ezek. 10:15). When the veil was rent, the cherubim were also rent, signifying that when the flesh of Christ, which is typified by the veil, was crucified, all the creatures also were crucified with His flesh. This flesh has been slain. According to Matthew 27:51, when the Lord Jesus died, the veil was rent from top to bottom, meaning that it was not rent by anyone on earth but by God in the heavens. The old creation has been slain and a new and living way to enter into the Holy of Holies has been cut. Now through the riven veil of the flesh and by the blood of Jesus we can enter into the Holy of Holies. His death and His blood are still available to us today.
The veil in verse 20 is the second veil (9:3) within the tabernacle which, as we have seen, typifies the flesh of Christ. When Christ’s flesh was crucified, this veil was rent, thus opening the way for us who were excluded from God, who is signified by the tree of life (Gen. 3:22-24), to enter into the Holy of Holies to contact Him and take Him as the tree of life for our enjoyment. This also implies that since our old man has been crucified with Christ, we have an open way to contact and enjoy God in our spirit as our life and life supply.