1 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. 4 For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; 5 who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” [Exodus 25:40] 6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. “Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest…” (1a) “Jesus is our High Priest in heaven….These simple but majestic and weighty words sum up the teaching of the first eight chapters of our epistle. This is the crowning-point of the apostle's profound and massive argument, Jesus, who suffered and died, is consecrated the priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec, after the power of an endless life. He is the minister of the heavenly sanctuary and of the true tabernacle.” (Adolph Saphir) “who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.” (1b) “What are the things in which Christ is now occupied as a priest? In one respect He rests, because He finished His work upon the earth, and therefore He is described as sitting down on His Father's throne; His is now the perfect and peaceful rest of victory, for He has overcome. But, on the other hand, His is now a constant priestly activity. Every single individual that is brought unto God, is brought through His intercession; and day by day Christ is occupied with all His children who are upon earth, bestowing upon them the benefits which He has purchased with His blood, sustaining their spiritual life, and overruling all things for their good. (A. W. Pink) "Rise, clasp My hand and come," says Jesus. ("The Hound of Heaven" by Francis Thompson) He is “a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.” (2) “There was an outer part, in which was the altar where they were to offer their sacrifices, which typified Christ dying; and there was an interior part within the veil, which typified Christ interceding for the people in heaven. Now this tabernacle Christ never entered into; but, having finished the work of satisfaction in the true tabernacle of His own body, He is now a minister of the sanctuary, the holy of holies, the true tabernacle in heaven, there taking care of His people's affairs, interceding with God [the Father] for them, that their sins may be pardoned and their persons and services accepted, through the merit of His sacrifice.” (Matthew Henry) The earthly was indeed made after the pattern given from heaven. BUT “The reference in this place to existence of a heavenly temple or tabernacle requires that any notion of a literal or actual temple or court in some particular locale beyond the earth's atmosphere be refuted. It is the conviction of this writer that such language is used by the Holy Spirit in order to bring down to the level of human comprehension those heavenly realities which are not capable of any complete finite understanding, and that the eloquent words used in the sacred text are accommodated to man's weakness and limitations, and that the marvelous realities thus described are fantastically beyond the total human knowledge of them, the very power and ability of language itself, as a means of communication, being helpless to transmit anything more than a typical or suggestive outline of the things that are in the heavens.” (Burton Coffman) Jesus' altar was on this earth. And His holy of holies is heaven. “For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer.” (3) “Whatever was brought by the people to be presented to God, whether expiatory sacrifices, or peace-offerings, or thank-offerings, must be offered by the priest, who was to expiate their guilt by the blood of the sacrifice, and perfume their gifts and services by his holy incense, to render their persons and performances typically acceptable; so then it necessarily belongs to the priesthood of Christ that He should have somewhat to offer…” (Matthew Henry) He offered Himself. “The high priests under the Law entered into their sanctuary after having offered a sacrifice; and so also did the great High Priest of our profession… Christ’s being there, in the heavenly sanctuary, is the proof at once that an expiatory sacrifice has been offered, and that that sacrifice has been effectual.” (A. W. Pink) “For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the Law (Nomos or Torah)” (4) of the earthly tabernacle. “The apostle is.... anticipating the objecting Jews: But you Christians have no high priest on earth! True, says the apostle, and well it is that we do not. It is to be carefully noted that the Spirit does not here say that when Christ was on earth He was not a Priest—no, He would not flatly contradict what he had plainly affirmed in Hebrews 2:17, 5:7-9, 7:26, 27. Instead, He says ‘If He were on earth,’ that is, had He remained here, He would not have completely discharged His sacerdotal functions. Had Christ stayed on earth, He had left His office imperfect…If Aaron had only offered sacrifice at the brazen altar, and had not carried the blood within the veil, he had left his work only half done.” (A. W Pink) “who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle for He said, ‘See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain’” (5) “The pattern — somewhat like the strokes penciled out upon a piece of fine linen, which exhibit the figures of leaves and flowers, but have not yet received their splendid colors and curious shades. And shadow - Or shadowy representation, which gives you some dim and imperfect idea of the body, but not the fine features, not the distinguishing air; none of those living graces which adorn the real person. Yet both the pattern and shadow lead our minds to something nobler than themselves: the pattern, to that holiness and glory which complete it; the shadow, to that which occasions it. Exodus 25:40.” (John Wesley) “'But now He;' Christ, 'has obtained a more excellent ministry;' than the Jewish priest, 'inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant;' than that formed with Israel at Sinai, 'which was established on better promises;' securing greater blessings. As the gospel dispensation is the last that God will ever grant to men, those who live under it and yet are not by it led to repentance and salvation, will perish with an everlasting destruction. (verse 6)” (Justin Edwards' Family Bible) 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” [Jeremiah 31:31-34] "For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second." (7) “So Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which Yahweh commanded him. Then all the people answered together and said, ‘All that the Lord has spoken we will do.’ (Exodus 19:7-8) It centered around the moral code and it was ratified by blood, saying “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.” “Wherein lay its ‘faultiness?’ It was wholly external, accompanied by no internal efficacy. It set before Israel an objective standard but supplied no power to measure up to it." (J. Brown) It gave mankind a chance to see what they could do on their own. "Now see what I can do through you," says He. They were able to draw nigh to God through the daily sacrifices and the high priest could atone for their sins for a year through the annual day of atonement... “'because finding fault with them,' (8a)- ... those who lived under the covenant." (Justin Edwards)-- "He says: 'Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant’” (8b) “It was in connection with severe rebukes that this promise was given of a new covenant which should accomplish what the old had failed to do." (Justin Edwards) "with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah," < Jeremiah 31:31> with all of Israel. "At the time God announced His purpose and promise through Jeremiah, the fleshly descendants of Abraham were divided in two hostile groups. They had separate kings and separate centers of worship. They were at enmity with [God and] one another.” (A. W. Pink)- “'not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt'- the English version <Jer. 31:32b> translates, ‘although I was an husband into them’.- 'because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them,’ says the Lord. (9) The Hebrews regarded not God: so God, in righteous retribution, regarded them not.” (Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown) “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. (10a) "This is the arrangement, or the dispensation which shall succeed the old one. 'With the house of Israel.' With the true Israel; that is, with all those whom he will regard and treat as his friends." (Barnes Notes) “The name ‘Israel’ was first given to Jacob: from that point onwards he is the man with a double name, sometimes being referred to as Jacob, sometimes as Israel, according as the ‘old man’ or ‘new man’ was uppermost within him. This more than hints at the double application of this name; oftentimes it is applied to Jacob’s natural descendants, at other times to his spiritual brethren. When Christ affirmed of Nathanael ‘Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile’ (John 1:47), it was the same as though He had said, ‘Behold a true Israelite, a spiritual prince with God.’ To insist that ‘Israel’ always signifies the fleshly descendants of Jacob betrays excuseless ignorance: why does the Holy Spirit speak of ‘Israel after the flesh’ in 1 Corinthians 10:18 if there be no Israel after the spirit!...” (A. W. Pink) This is the covenant: ”I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” (10b) <Jer 31:33> “How great is the contrast between the old and the new covenant! In the one God demands of sinful man: ‘You shall.’ In the other God promises: ‘I will.’.. In the one the promise is neutralized by the disobedience of man; in the other all the promises of God are Yea in Christ, and Amen in Christ. In the new covenant Christ is all; He is the Alpha and Omega; all things are of God, and all things are sure and steadfast.” (Saphir) It is still not unconditional. Yet, in contrast, Jesus will make you perfect, if you turn to Him and obey Him. He will forgive you sins along the way. He is your all in all. He will justify, sanctify, and save you. “None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.” (11) <Jer 31:34a> “‘They shall be all taught of God’ (John 6:45; Isa. 54:13; Jer. 31:34): taught His will and all the mysteries of godliness, which by the Word are revealed. This ‘knowledge’ of God cannot be imparted by any external teaching alone, but is the result of the Spirit’s operations, though He frequently, yea generally, uses the oral and written ministry of God’s servants as His instruments therein.” (A. W. Pink) “‘God is known in Judah,’ said the Psalmist. God had indeed revealed Himself unto His people. He had taught them and given unto them His Word. In their marvellous history, in the divine messages sent by Moses and the prophets, in the types and ordinances, in the Judges and Kings, God had revealed unto His people His name, His character and will…” (Adolph Saphir) “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” (12) <Jer 31:34b> “The word here rendered ‘merciful’ is propitious, for it is not absolute mercy without any satisfaction having been taken by justice, but grace shown on the ground of a propitiation: cf. Rom 3:24-25. Christ died to render God propitious toward sinners (Heb 2:17), and in and through Him alone is God merciful toward the sins of His people. Just so long as Christ is rejected, the sinner is under the curse. But as soon as He is received, the blessings described in verses 10-12 become his.” (A. W. Pink) And “”Hence all our progress in the divine life, and all the consolations of the Christian pilgrim, are rooted in this primary doctrine of forgiveness through faith in Jesus.” (Adolph Saphir) 13 In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. “Here is the conclusion of the apostle’s argument… The old covenant had continued for fifteen hundred years, from Moses to Christ; but its purpose had now been served. God gave Israel more than a hint that the Mosaic economy would not last forever, when His providence permitted the nation to be carried down into Babylon. Upon their return from captivity, neither the temple nor its priesthood were ever restored to their pristine glory.” (A. W. Pink) The “old is is ready to vanish away.” “This phrase “affords the strongest possible evidence that Hebrews was written before the destruction of Jerusalem and the cessation of the temple services; for if those events had already happened, it would be absolutely unaccountable how the author could have made such a statement as this.” (Burton Coffman) “Modern Judaism is not able to account for the cessation of sacrifices and the Levitical dispensation.” (Adolph Saphir)