Hebrews 9:2Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

“The first tabernacle,” he says, “in which were the lampstand, the table, and the presentation of the loaves.” These are worldly signs.

“For the first tabernacle was prepared, in which were the lampstand, the table, and the presentation of the loaves” (Ex. 10:22-25), and this is called “the Holy Place.” He calls this the first in relation to the Holy of Holies, which was within. Before it stood the bronze altar, the altar for whole burnt offerings, set in the open air. Then, when the veil, or rather the covering, was lifted (Ex. 40:19), the middle place appeared. In it were the lampstand and the table of the presentation of the loaves.

What shall we say? Shall we stop our discourse here, at matter and the visible? Or, since the tabernacle of Moses is called in the Word an antitype, that is, fashioned according to the image of the true whole world, the totality of the visible and invisible (Heb. 9:24), shall we pass beyond the first veil? Shall we ascend above the sensible and enter into the holy places, into the noetic and heavenly nature?

He then speaks of the tabernacle of that time, the temporary tabernacle, and of everything in it. He does this to disclose and prove that all this also passed away together with its passing law. It was impossible for all this to remain after the law had been abolished, since all these things served only as symbols and types of that true worship of God which will abide forever. Thus the Apostle again indicates that the worship performed in the temporary tabernacle is abolished. The Jews especially boasted in this tabernacle, when he says: the first tabernacle was prepared in such a way that in it were the lampstands, the table, and the other objects.

The word άγια, “holy places,” must be read with an acute accent on the third syllable from the end. This lets us know that another noun is understood here. ... [...] The tabernacle showed that it bore the image of the heavenly. By the “lampstand” and the “table” it signified the present life.

“For the first tabernacle was prepared.” The first tabernacle was prepared, that is, the holy place of the people. Since the whole tabernacle was divided into two parts, the first part formed the holy place of the people, and the second the Holy of Holies. The former was called first not by superiority, but by position, because it was first from the entrance. “In which were the lampstand, the table, and the presentation of the loaves.” All this, and what follows, is discussed in detail in the book of Exodus (Ex. 40). On this table were dishes, censers, vessels, cups, and the loaves presented in succession. “Which is called the Holy Place.” It is called both the holy place and the holy places without distinction.

The first tabernacle was that in which stood the bronze altar of sacrifices and whole burnt offerings. The second was the one of which he says, in which were the lampstand and the presentation of the loaves upon the table. The third was that in which were the golden censer and the ark of the covenant.

The golden vessel in the ark, containing manna, is what is holy in Christ, containing in itself all the fullness of the Godhead, cf. Col 2:9.

Aaron's rod that blossomed is the invincible power of His priesthood. Of this the prophet says: "The scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom" (Ps 44:7).

For He who for a certain time appeared dead and cut off was afterward, as has now been revealed, illumined at dawn by the unwaning rays of the resurrection.

Living, He blossomed again, and He made clear that His future existence would be forever invulnerable and unfading. For "Christ, rising from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has dominion over Him" (Rom 6:9).

“For the first tabernacle was prepared.” Here the word tabernacle is taken in the sense of a part separated by a special veil, and representing, as it were, a distinct tent.

The very arrangement of the tabernacle, and the priestly rites performed in it, had to suggest the thought of their insufficiency and temporary significance (Heb 9:1-7).

In describing the tabernacle, to what does the Apostle chiefly draw attention? To the inaccessibility of the Holy of Holies, not only for the people, but even for the priests themselves.

They stood in the worldly or earthly sanctuary, as the Apostle says, that is, in the sanctuary that had significance only for temporal and earthly life.

Only the great high priest could pass beyond the veil that concealed the Holy of Holies. Even this happened only once a year, with great fear and trembling.

Moreover, it was "not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the ignorances of the people" (Heb 9:7).

Having said that the first covenant had grown old and was near to disappearance, the Apostle proves that God most justly hands it over to such a fate.

He proves this by comparing the Old Testament sanctuary and sacrifices with the high-priestly ministry of Jesus Christ in the heavenly sanctuary.

First the Apostle characterizes the priestly service in the earthly sanctuary, the tabernacle of Moses. He presents the service itself as though it had already ceased, using είχε, the imperfect tense.

The first covenant, says the Apostle, strove, like the new, to bring men to communion with God. For this purpose it had special rules concerning divine worship, οικαιοίματα λατρείας.