October 20

“Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end” (Psalm 63:2).

The sanctuary is a holy place; under the Old Covenant entrance was restricted to those who were authorized by the Law to enter; great diligence was exercised to ensure that the Law governing the sanctuary was observed rigidly; it was in the sanctuary that the priest met with God.

Under the New Covenant, each believer is a priest to God and each one must find their own sanctuary, their own secret meeting place with God. The sanctuary is a place where an individual meets with God; it is not a physical structure and has no material form, nor is it a common meeting place where all may gather or come and go; it is just God and the priest. I cannot take anyone into my sanctuary, for it is within me; all must find their own sanctuary within where they can meet with God.

The sanctuary is a secret, spiritual meeting place where the spirit of man meets with the Spirit of God; no flesh may enter the sanctuary; only the spiritual man may enter; this is a fundamental principle; the flesh would defile the sanctuary. If the flesh were to enter the sanctuary it would not be the sanctuary, for it would be defiled by the flesh.

Under the Old Covenant the sanctuary was a physical and material place and God gave specific instructions as to its construction; “See,” He says, “that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.” (Hebrews 8:5). But these things in the Law were only material patterns and types foreshadowing the spiritual fulfillment that came in Christ Jesus. In each true child of God there is a place where he may meet with the Spirit of God; that is the only sanctuary under the New Covenant.