Heb 8:2-3 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 2. A minister of the sanctuary ] τωναγιωνλειτουργος. A public minister of the holy things or places . The word λειτουργος, from λειτος, public , and εργον, a work or office , means a person who officiated for the public, a public officer; in whom, and his work, all the people had a common right: hence our word liturgy , the public work of prayer and praise, designed for the people at large ; all having a right to attend it, and each having an equal interest in it. Properly speaking, the Jewish priest was the servant of the public; he transacted the business of the people with God. Jesus Christ is also the same kind of public officer; both as Priest and Mediator he transacts the business of the whole human race with God. He performs the holy things or acts in the true tabernacle , HEAVEN, of which the Jewish tabernacle was the type . The tabernacle was the place among the Jews where God, by the symbol of his presence, dwelt . This could only typify heaven , where God, in his essential glory , dwells, and is manifest to angels and glorified saints; and hence heaven is called here the true tabernacle , to distinguish it from the type . Which the Lord pitched ] The Jewish tabernacle was man's work , though made by God's direction; the heavens , this true tabernacle , the work of God alone, and infinitely more glorious than that of the Jews. The tabernacle was also a type of the human nature of Christ, : And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us , καιεσκηνωσενεν ημιν and tabernacled among us ; for, as the Divine presence dwelt in the tabernacle, so the fulness of the Godhead, bodily, dwelt in the man Christ Jesus. And this human body was the peculiar work of God , as it came not in the way of natural generation .

‏ Hebrews 8:2-3

Verse 2. A minister of the sanctuary] τωναγιωνλειτουργος. A public minister of the holy things or places. The word λειτουργος, from λειτος, public, and εργον, a work or office, means a person who officiated for the public, a public officer; in whom, and his work, all the people had a common right: hence our word liturgy, the public work of prayer and praise, designed for the people at large; all having a right to attend it, and each having an equal interest in it. Properly speaking, the Jewish priest was the servant of the public; he transacted the business of the people with God. Jesus Christ is also the same kind of public officer; both as Priest and Mediator he transacts the business of the whole human race with God. He performs the holy things or acts in the true tabernacle, HEAVEN, of which the Jewish tabernacle was the type. The tabernacle was the place among the Jews where God, by the symbol of his presence, dwelt. This could only typify heaven, where God, in his essential glory, dwells, and is manifest to angels and glorified saints; and hence heaven is called here the true tabernacle, to distinguish it from the type.

Which the Lord pitched] The Jewish tabernacle was man's work, though made by God's direction; the heavens, this true tabernacle, the work of God alone, and infinitely more glorious than that of the Jews. The tabernacle was also a type of the human nature of Christ, Joh 1:14: And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, καιεσκηνωσενεν ημιν and tabernacled among us; for, as the Divine presence dwelt in the tabernacle, so the fulness of the Godhead, bodily, dwelt in the man Christ Jesus. And this human body was the peculiar work of God, as it came not in the way of natural generation.

Verse 3. Every high priest is ordained] καθισταται, Is set apart, for this especial work.

Gifts and sacrifices] δωρατεκαιθυσιας. Eucharistic offerings, and sacrifices for sin. By the former, God's government of the universe, and his benevolence to his creatures in providing for their support, were acknowledged. By the latter, the destructive and ruinous nature of sin, and the necessity of an atonement, were confessed.

Wherefore-of necessity] If Christ be a high priest, and it be essential to the office of a high priest to offer atoning sacrifices to God, Jesus must offer such. Now it is manifest that, as he is the public minister, officiating in the true tabernacle as high priest, he must make an atonement; and his being at the right hand of the throne shows that he has offered, and continues to offer, such an atonement.