Hebrews 9:3-12

³Past the second veil in the Tabernacle was the room called the Most Holy Place.

⁴This contained the golden altar of incense, the gold-covered “agreement chest.” Inside this were the golden pot containing manna, Aaron's rod that had produced buds, and the stone inscriptions of the agreement.

⁵Above this were the glorious angel cherubim covering the place of reconciliation. We can't discuss all of this in detail now.

⁶Once all of this had been set up, the priests would go in regularly to the first room of the Tabernacle to perform their duties.

⁷But only the high priest went into the second room, and only once a year. Even then he had to make a sacrifice involving blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins of ignorance.

⁸By this the Holy Spirit indicated that the way into the true Most Holy Place hadn't been revealed while the first Tabernacle still existed.

⁹This is an illustration for us in the present, showing us that the gifts and sacrifices that are offered can't make the worshiper's conscience clear.

¹⁰They're just religious regulations—about food and drink, and various ceremonies involving washing—which were put in place until the time of God's new way of relating to him.

¹¹Christ has come as a high priest of all the good experiences we now have. He went into the greater, more complete Tabernacle that wasn't made by human hands—not part of this created world.

¹²He didn't enter through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood. He entered once, for all time, into the Most Holy Place, setting us free forever.