"Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.' Heb. 9:24.

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CHRIST THE ANTITYPE

So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many." Heb. 9:28.

CHAPTER VII

THE little band of Adventists who had taken their stand upon the prophetic periods and the seventh-month movement, continued to study their Bibles in order to understand the nature of the event that took place on the 22d of October, 1844. That Christ did not in any sense come to this earth on that date, they frankly acknowledged. The question then became, "What did mark the end of the 2300 days?" The prophecy said the sanctuary was to be cleansed, and William Miller believed that the sanctuary was this earth. On this latter point he was evidently in error. What, then, did the cleansing of the sanctuary signify? The final answer to this question was found by a systematic study of the Old Testament types and of the whole sanctuary service.

Meanwhile there was much praying, the believers feeling that the subject was one that the Holy Spirit alone could elucidate, but confident that light would come in due time. One day, the account goes, a brother was crossing a cornfield, and seeing it was a retired place, knelt behind one of the shocks of corn

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"We have such a High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." Heb. 8: 1, 2.

and pleaded for light on this perplexing question. While thus engaged, the Spirit came upon him powerfully, and seemed to give him the impression very distinctly: "The sanctuary to be cleansed is in heaven." He made known his experience to another brother, O. R. L. Crosier, and they made a thorough study of the subject in the light of this hypothesis.

They found that Moses built the tabernacle according to a pattern shown him in the mount, and that the priests of the Aaronic order served "unto the example and shadow of heav

A PATTERN OF THINGS IN HEAVEN

"The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament.' Rev. 11:19.

enly things." Our Saviour, moreover, is said to be a priest after the order of Melchizedek. John the revelator saw the temple of God opened in heaven, and in the temple the ark of the testament. These passages and other similar ones all seemed to harmonize with the conception of a sanctuary in heaven and a service connected with it, where Christ ministers as priest in behalf of His people.

Now the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary occurred once a year, when the high priest put on his "holy garments," and entered the most holy place to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. (See Leviticus 16.) But Christ, because He made His offering once for all, enters the most holy place in heaven, not yearly, but once for all at the close of His priestly ministry, just prior to His return to this earth to take the king

dom. This, then, would be the beginning of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, the solemn event which really began on Oct. 22, 1844. And as the blotting out of sin presupposes an investigation of the lives and characters of those concerned,

this entrance of Christ upon His duties in the most holy, clearly marks the beginning of the investigative judgment, which is indicated in the words, "Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come." Rev. 14: 7.

Such seemed to be the import of the scriptures examined, and such the general line of thought followed by the two men