²³ Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

Ritualistic cleansing is in view here. Protestant Christianity squirms at the notion of ritual, a reaction to the overly ritualistic practices of “high church” denominations such as Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox or high Anglican. These are misappropriated carryovers from the Old Testament teachings, symbolism now replaced by the death of Christ, as depicted in the breaking of bread and baptism. Humans yearn for symbols to express their faith, to give them something to look at. God is spirit. And Jesus who once walked on earth in a physical body is now no longer here, so many seek a visual substitute in priestly garments, and formal ceremony with all its pomp.

Yet to the true believers, our faith rests not in outward symbols, but in faith in that which is unseen (see Heb 11:1). But for Old Testament saints, God did give symbols, namely the tabernacle and everything in it. These were given as a picture of true spiritual things (Heb 8:5). And they needed to be “clean,” that is, set apart for special use. To be clean meant certain pains must be taken to preserve them from being contaminated by that which was unclean. For example, if a man touched the carcass of a dead animal, he was rendered “unclean.” Now if he touched something that was to be offered up to God, that thing would also become unclean. So, an unclean individual needed to be ritually cleansed before he could worship. Some have suggested that the ritualistic cleansing was God’s rudimentary form of sanitation and hygiene, but incorporated as part of worship.

So, it was necessary to ensure that the tabernacle and its furnishings were cleansed—and that is exactly what we see in the Old Testament record. But the point here is that this cleansing is symbolic of a spiritual blessing that takes place in heaven. God invites us to picture heavenly truths while viewing the temple. What does that actually look like? First of all we must recognize that describing heavenly things in human terms has its limitations. It is like trying to explain what life would be like in four, five or six dimensions. We are bound by our finite comprehension. But suffice it to say, God thought the best description was found in the Jewish temple, as described in Scripture.

So there was a cleansing of some sort, with better sacrifices, of the heavenly things. This implies there was a need in heaven. A need for a Sacrifice!

Lord, when I anticipate actually seeing heaven, having clear eyes, I rejoice now ahead of time. It is going to be marvelous, way beyond what I can imagine now.