Commentary - Hebrews 8:1-6

Bird's-eye view

The author of Hebrews, having established the superiority of Christ's person and priesthood, now comes to the "main point" of his entire argument. This is the hinge on which the whole epistle turns. The point is this: we have a High Priest, Jesus, who is not ministering in a temporary, earthly tent that is a mere copy of the real thing. No, our High Priest has completed His sacrificial work, has sat down in the position of ultimate authority at God's right hand, and now ministers in the true, heavenly tabernacle. This is the reality of which the entire Old Covenant sacrificial system was a shadow. The Levitical priesthood, with its tabernacle and sacrifices, was a divinely-ordained object lesson, a sketch of the real thing. But Christ's ministry is not a sketch; it is the substance. Because His ministry is in the heavenly reality, it is a "more excellent ministry," and it is attached to a "better covenant" established on "better promises." This passage is the theological summit from which we can look back at the Old Covenant and see it for what it was, and look forward to the glories of the New Covenant and see them for what they are.

The central contrast is between the shadow and the substance. The old system was good and necessary for its time, but it was a placeholder. It was a picture of a coming reality. Now that the reality has arrived in the person and work of Jesus Christ, the picture has been fulfilled. To go back to the shadows of the Old Covenant, which is what the original readers were tempted to do, would be like preferring a photograph of a banquet to sitting down at the feast itself. Our High Priest is not on earth, bustling about with animal sacrifices; He is in heaven, seated in glory, having accomplished a perfect and final redemption.

Outline

Context In Hebrews

This chapter is the capstone of the argument that began in chapter 5. The author has painstakingly demonstrated that Jesus is a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, not Aaron (Heb 5-7). He has shown that Melchizedek was greater than Abraham, and therefore greater than Levi and Aaron who were in Abraham's loins. Christ's priesthood is superior because it is eternal, confirmed by an oath, and based on an indestructible life. Now, in chapter 8, he brings all these threads together to make his central declaration. Because Christ's priesthood is superior, His place of ministry must also be superior, and the covenant He mediates must be superior. This chapter serves as the bridge between the discussion of Christ's priestly office (chapters 5-7) and the discussion of the New Covenant itself, which will be quoted at length from Jeremiah 31 in the following verses (Heb 8:8-12). The logic is airtight: a better priest requires a better sanctuary, a better sacrifice, and a better covenant.

Key Issues

The Substance and the Shadow

One of the central themes of Hebrews, and indeed the whole Bible, is the relationship between types and antitypes, or shadows and substance. The entire Old Covenant apparatus was a shadow. The tabernacle, the priests, the sacrifices, the laws, they were all pointing forward to something greater. They were, as our text says, a "copy and shadow of the heavenly things." This does not mean they were unimportant or unreal. A shadow is a real thing, but its shape is determined by the object casting it. The Old Covenant was a God-ordained shadow, and its shape was determined by the person and work of Jesus Christ.

The problem for the Hebrew Christians was that they were tempted to go back to the shadow. The shadow was tangible, visible, and familiar. The substance, Christ's ministry in the heavenly places, was invisible and could only be apprehended by faith. The author's argument is that now that the sun has risen, now that the substance has come, it is folly to live in the shadows. The earthly tabernacle was made by man, according to a pattern. Christ ministers in the true tabernacle, the one pitched by the Lord Himself. The earthly priests offered gifts and sacrifices that could never perfect the conscience. Christ offered Himself, the one perfect sacrifice. The Old Covenant was written on stone. The New Covenant is written on the heart. In every respect, the reality has eclipsed the preview. Our faith is not in a blueprint, but in the finished building.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 Now the 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,

The author flags this for us so we cannot miss it. "Here it is," he says, "the sum of the matter." The main point is not just that we have a high priest, but that we have such a high priest. And what is He like? He is one who "sat down." This is a posture of completion and authority. The Levitical priests never sat down in the tabernacle; their work was never finished. Day after day, year after year, the sacrifices continued because they were ineffectual. But Christ, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down (Heb 10:12). And where did He sit? Not on a stool in the corner, but "at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty." This is the place of ultimate power, honor, and sovereign rule over the entire cosmos. Our priest is a reigning king.

2 a minister in the holy places and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.

His ministry, or liturgy, continues. But it is not a ministry of repeated sacrifice. It is a ministry of intercession and rule, conducted from a position of finished victory. And the location of this ministry is crucial. He is a minister in the "holy places," the heavenly sanctuary. This is the "true tabernacle." The word "true" here means real, ultimate, the genuine article of which the earthly was a mere copy. And this tabernacle was not constructed by Bezalel and Oholiab; it was "pitched" by the Lord Himself. We are dealing with two realms: the earthly, man-made, shadowy realm of the Old Covenant, and the heavenly, God-made, substantial realm of the New.

3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer.

The very definition of a priest involves offering something. A priest is a mediator who approaches God on behalf of men, and he must bring a sacrifice. The Levitical priests brought "gifts and sacrifices", the blood of bulls and goats. If Jesus is truly a high priest, then He too must have an offering. The author is anticipating a question: if Christ's work is finished, what is His offering? The answer, which he has already hinted at and will develop further, is that Christ's offering was Himself. He did not offer something external to Himself; He offered His own blood, His own life. This is the ultimate sacrifice, which he presented in the heavenly tabernacle once for all.

4 Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law;

This is a crucial point that demonstrates the radical shift Christ brought. According to the Mosaic Law, priests had to be from the tribe of Levi and the line of Aaron. Jesus was from the tribe of Judah. Therefore, under the Old Covenant system, "if He were on earth," He would be disqualified from priestly service. The entire Levitical system was still functioning when this was written, and it had no place for a priest from Judah. This shows that Christ's priesthood does not belong to that earthly, legal system. It is of a different, higher order altogether, the order of Melchizedek.

5 who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “SEE,” He says, “THAT YOU MAKE all things ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN WHICH WAS SHOWN YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN.”

Here the author explains the status of that Levitical system. Those priests, serving in that earthly tabernacle, were serving a "copy and shadow." Their ministry was not the real thing, but a representation of it. To prove this, he quotes from Exodus 25:40, where God instructs Moses on the construction of the tabernacle. Moses was not given creative license; he was commanded to make everything according to a "pattern" that God showed him. This proves that there was a heavenly original. The tabernacle on earth was a blueprint, a scale model, of the true dwelling place of God. The entire system was derivative, pointing to a greater, pre-existing reality in heaven where Christ now ministers.

6 But now 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.

This verse summarizes the superiority of Christ's work. "But now", this is the great transition. The old has been superseded. Christ has obtained a "more excellent ministry." How much more excellent? The excellence of His ministry is proportional to the excellence of the covenant He mediates. His ministry is better because His covenant is better. And why is the covenant better? Because it is "enacted on better promises." The Old Covenant had promises, but they were largely conditional and external. The New Covenant, as we are about to see, has promises that are unconditional and internal. They are promises that God Himself will change the hearts of His people, forgive their sins completely, and write His law within them. A better priest (Jesus) ministers in a better place (heaven) with a better sacrifice (Himself), mediating a better covenant based on better promises. This is the heart of the gospel.

Application

The truth of this passage ought to revolutionize our worship and our confidence before God. First, we must recognize that our access to God is not based on earthly rituals, buildings, or priestly hierarchies. Our access is direct, through our great High Priest who is seated at God's right hand. We do not approach a God who is distant and must be appeased by our repeated efforts. We approach a throne of grace, where our advocate has already accomplished a perfect and finished work on our behalf. This should give us tremendous boldness and banish all fear.

Second, we must learn to see the Old Testament as the author of Hebrews did. It is not a collection of outdated rules and strange stories. It is the shadowlands, filled with rich and glorious pictures of Christ. The tabernacle, the sacrifices, the priesthood, all of it preaches the gospel in seed form. Understanding the shadow helps us appreciate the substance all the more. We should read the Old Testament with Christian eyes, looking for the pattern of Christ everywhere.

Finally, we must live as people of the New Covenant. This is not a religion of external conformity, but of internal transformation. The great promise of this better covenant is a new heart, a forgiven sin, and an intimate knowledge of God. Our confidence is not in our ability to keep the rules, but in God's promise to change us from the inside out. We are not trying to build our own flimsy tent of righteousness; we are citizens of a heavenly kingdom, ministered to by a King-Priest in the true tabernacle which the Lord Himself has pitched.