Holy of Holies

or
The Most Holy Place

Holy of Holies The golden censer and the Ark of the covenant or testimony were items in the most Holy place-

Hebrews 9:3-4 (King James Version)

3. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;

4. Which had the golden censer, and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;

The Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies was made of wood overlaid with pure gold - Exodus 25:10-13 (King James Version)

10. And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.

11. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.

12. And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it.

13. And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.


The Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies had a special seat for God -

Exodus 25:21 (King James Version)

21. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.

Exodus 26:34 (King James Version)

34. And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place.

The mercy seat for the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies was made of pure gold –

Exodus 25:17 (King James Version)

17. And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.

Exodus 37:6 (King James Version)

6. And he made the mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and one cubit and a half the breadth thereof.


Golden figures of Angels were placed at each end of the Mercy seat in the Holy of Holies-

Exodus 25:18-20 (King James Version)

18. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.

19. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.

20. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.

Exodus 37:7-9 (King James Version)

7. And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one piece made he them, on the two ends of the mercy seat;

8. One cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other end on that side: out of the mercy seat made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof.

9. And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims.

Before satan fell he was a covering cherub in the sanctuary in Heaven, that the earthly sanctuary. was patterned after –

Ezekiel 28:15-17 (King James Version)

15. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

16. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

17. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

Revelation 12:9 (King James Version)

9. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.


The ten commandments that God wrote with His own finger were placed inside the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies -

Exodus 25:21 (King James Version)

21. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.

Exodus 31:18 (King James Version)

18. And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

Deuteronomy 10:4-5 (King James Version)

4. And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the LORD spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the LORD gave them unto me.

5. And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the LORD commanded me.

Exodus 40:20 (King James Version)

20. And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark:


The ark of the testimony in the Holy of Holies was patterned after the one in heaven -

Revelation 11:19 (King James Version)

19. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

Aaron’s rod that budded was later put in the Ark of the testimony in the Holy of Holies as a reminder that God had chosen Aaron and his son’s from the tribe of Levi to be high priests.

Numbers 17:1-8 (King James Version)

1. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

2. Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man's name upon his rod.

3. And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers.

4. And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.

5. And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you.

6. And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.

7. And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness.

8. And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.

Numbers 17:9-11 (King James Version)

9. And Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod.

10. And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not.

11. And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he.

God communicated with Moses and the High Priests from the mercy seat-

Exodus 25:22 (King James Version)

22. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

Numbers 7:89 (King James Version)

89. And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him.

On a daily basis when the Priests spoke to God they would be in front of the Altar of Incense, in the Holy place in front of the veil which divided the Holy place from the Holy of Holies.

Exodus 30:1, 6-8 (King James Version)

1. And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.

6. And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.


Once per year, on the Day of Atonement, the priests would go into the Holy of Holies to atone for his and the peoples sins done throughout the year -

Hebrews 9:6-7 (King James Version)

6. Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.

7. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:

The golden censer was used by the High Priests when he entered the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement


The incense inside the golden censer, in the Holy of Holies, created a cloud barrier between the high priest and the presence of God on the mercy seat –

Leviticus 16:12-13 (King James Version)

12. And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail:

13. And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:



The golden censer in the Holy of Holies in the earthly sanctuary. was patterned after the one in the heavenly sanctuary -

Revelation 8:3 (King James Version)

3. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

God’s presence was in the Holy of Holies as a cloud by day and fire by night -

Exodus 40:38 (King James Version)

38. For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

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