Several years ago, I found the study of the sanctuary fascinating for its rich symbolism and beauty. The sanctuary, or tabernacle, was a place where God could dwell with His people on earth (Exodus 25:8). And nowhere was His presence felt more than in the Most Holy Place, the compartment where the ark of the covenant was kept.
Only Aaron or one of his descendants who served as High Priest could minister in this most holy room in the sanctuary. And he was only allowed in there once a year, on the Day of Atonement, which symbolically represented the Day of Judgment.
The number seven is found throughout the Bible. In the beginning, God completed His perfect week of creating the world and declared the seventh day holy. In the end, in Revelation, seven is found numerous times in various ways—over fifty times, as a matter of fact. Seven churches, seven spirits, seven golden candlesticks, etc. Perhaps He is trying to tell us something important about His seventh-day Sabbath.
The prophetic book of Revelation also speaks of a Day of Judgment and another dwelling place of God: His throne room in heaven.
The Most Holy Place in the earthly sanctuary was also the only room that was shaped like a cube—with equal dimensions for its width, length, and height. Not surprisingly, the dimensions of the Holy City, New Jerusalem, which comes down from heaven after the millennium, is also in the shape of a cube. See Revelation 21:16.
Could it be that God’s people will truly dwell with God at last in the most holy place in the universe? This does seem to be the case, when you consider another symbolic number: the number twelve, which has notoriously been a number for God’s chosen people. There were, after all, twelve tribes of Israel in the Old Testament, and twelve apostles in the New.
How interesting that twelve is a product of three (a number representing divinity—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and four (a number used in speaking about the earth—four seasons and four directions of the wind). [3 + 4 = 7, probably not a coincidence either] We were evidently created to be very close to God. See Genesis 1:26.
The last two chapters in Revelation describe a holy city built on twelve foundation stones and having twelve pearly gates. Even the fruit on the tree of life bore twelve different kinds of fruit “for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2).
We mustn’t forget the many times multiples of twelve are used as well. Revelation 7, 14, and 21 (multiples of 7, by the way) mention an elect group of 144,000 (that’s 12 x 12,000) who will be sealed and protected during the last, great tribulation before Jesus comes.
One final number to whet your appetite for Bible study is the number 666. This number seems to fall short of the perfect number seven. Therefore, it’s rightly thought to represent a counterfeit of God. Revelation 13:18 verifies it as the number of a man, a beast, not of God. Some have even identified 666 as an unholy trinity, made up of the dragon (Satan), the beast (the Antichrist), and the false prophet (the second beast in Revelation 13). These three “unclean spirits” are mentioned in Revelation 16:13. No wonder the third angel’s message in Revelation 14 is spoken of with such urgency.
Let’s not wait to learn all we can about God, our ticket out of this world of sin. God longs to welcome us into His heavenly kingdom of eternal peace and happiness. It will be a city 12,000 furlongs in all directions, with walls 144 cubits thick. A city foursquare, with ample room for God and all His children.
