There used to be a physical place where Almighty God revealed His actual presence. Can you imagine what that must have been like? It happened in a room that was about 15 feet high, 15 feet wide and 15 feet tall. This room was called the Holy of Holies, and it was inside the ancient Jewish Temple.

In that room was a wooden box overlaid with gold, called the Ark of the Covenant. Inside that box were the two stone tablets where God had written the Ten Commandments. On top of that box there were two angelic creatures covered in gold. They faced each other, and their wings were spread out covering the top of the box, which was called the Mercy Seat.

The Holy of Holies was separated from the rest of the Temple by a thick, linen curtain that was made of four colors: white, blue, scarlet, and purple. The curtain hung from four wooden pillars that were overlaid with fine gold, and it was fastened by hooks of silver.

The only person who was ever allowed in that room was the High Priest, and that one man was allowed to enter on only one day a year, the Day of Atonement. Before he could enter, he had to go through a ceremonial washing and put on special garments. He also had to bring two things with him: burning incense (maybe to help shield his eyes from a direct view of God), and the blood of a sacrificial lamb. “But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance” (Hebrews 9:7).

If even a good High Priest wasn’t good enough to dwell in the presence of God here on earth, then where does that leave us? How could any of us be good enough to spend eternity in the midst of the full blaze of God’s glory in heaven? Since we are all sinners (Romans 3:23), this is a terrible problem for every one of us because God’s “eyes are too pure to approve evil, and

[HE] can not look on wickedness with favor….” (Habakkuk 1:13).

The answer, the only answer, is Jesus. “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle [Temple], not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11–12).

“Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:19–23).

No matter how hard we try to live a good life, being good will never be good enough. We cannot be sinlessly perfect, which is required to live forever in the presence of a pure and holy God. The only thing good enough is the goodness of Christ. He never sinned. His life was perfect, and when we turn to Him and accept what He has done for us, our sins are covered by His righteousness. “By this will we have been sanctified [made holy] through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10).

I hope you can say with Peter that Jesus “… bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness…. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls” (1 Peter 2:24–25).