Copy and shadow

The promised covenant · Hebrews 8

Story guide: The earthly sanctuary is described as a copy and shadow. Moses’s work gives the reader a visible point of comparison, not a reconstruction of the heavenly sanctuary.

Open this scene in the reader →

1The main point in what is being said is this: we have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

2a minister of the holy places and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord set up, not man.

3For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; therefore it is necessary for this one also to have something that he may offer.

4If he were on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the law.

5who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for he says, “See that you make everything according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain.”

6But as it is, he has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.

Step through the story beside the Scripture itself. About the People’s Open Bible