Toward the Holy of Holies (Ex 35)

Toward the Holy of Holies

"Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; it is a holy day for you." (Exodus 35:2)

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, stone tablets in hand, the first words out of his mouth to the people were about the fourth commandment—the Sabbath. Not the regulations for building the tabernacle. Not the priestly garments. Not the purity laws. Moses knew what lay at the heart of the Ten Commandments.

If we imagine the Ten Commandments as a tabernacle, the Sabbath is the Holy of Holies. The outer court contains the laws about neighbors and things. The Holy Place holds the commands directed toward God. But the place where all these relationships converge—where God and all creation find their proper place and rest together—that is the Holy of Holies. That is the Sabbath.

Yet the Holy of Holies has a veil. Just as Eden had its flaming sword. We cannot enter. Indeed, we must not. For a human to tear the veil and force entry into the Holy of Holies is no different from building the Tower of Babel.

But when Jesus breathed his last on the cross, the temple veil was torn. The direction matters. Not from bottom to top, but from top to bottom. God himself dismantled the barrier. This was the moment when Jesus' prayer in John 17 was answered: "I in the Father, the Father in me, and they in us." This was the moment the flaming sword guarding Eden was withdrawn.

Rest is not something we achieve. It is something God opens for us. Rest is not about becoming divine; it is about being placed in right relationship with God. Just as God breathed life into Adam's nostrils at creation, so too rest begins with God drawing near to us.

Scripture testifies to the story of rest. In Genesis, Eden closes. In Exodus, the Holy of Holies is veiled. In Matthew, the veil tears. In Revelation, we hear: "The dwelling of God is with humanity" (Rev 21:3). From barrier to opening, from separation to presence—this is the narrative of rest. "So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God" (Heb 4:9). A rest to enter awaits us still. Each weekly Sabbath is but a preview of that eschatological rest. We are on our way there now. The story of rest is long, and it has unfolded in many ways. That story is not yet finished.