Meaning of SANCTUARY

It means "holy [place]," and is used in the OT to designate both the Tabernacle and the Temple as a whole, and the "holy place" and the "most holy" as opposed to the other parts.

The sanctuary was the place where, outside the presence of man and the world, one could contemplate the glory of God and understand his purposes (cf. Ps. 73:17). It was the place where sacrifices were offered and where God was worshiped.

In the NT, this term is also applied to the holy parts of the Tabernacle (Heb. 9:1; 13:11). In He. 9:1 is described as "ground" ("kosmikos"), in contrast to the true Tabernacle "which the Lord set up and not man" (Heb. 8:2).

The term "sanctuary" in this last passage is lit., "holy ones" (places or things). Of this, Christ is the minister. The sanctuary of the Christian consists of the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

God reveals himself without an intervening veil. He has no earthly temple, nor will there be one in the heavenly New Jerusalem, for "the Lord God Almighty is her temple, and the Lamb" (Rev. 21:22).