I Come Into the Holy of Holies
The verse continues like this:
By Your grace, (by Your grace)
By Your blood, (by Your blood)
I come into the Holy of Holies.
Now the Holy of Holies is called, in the NIV, the Most Holy Place. When God was instructing the people on how to build the tabernacle in Exodus 26:33, He told them to hang a curtain which would separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.
And in Hebrews 9, the writer gives us a nice summary of what happened in the Most Holy Place. Verse 7: “Only the high priest entered the inner room (that’s the Most Holy Place), and only once a year, never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.”
Jesus, Our High Priest
In the Jewish way of worship, the high priest would atone for the people's sins by taking the blood of a sacrifice into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement. He would offer this blood to God, and that would atone for the people's sins.
Then further on in that chapter, Hebrews 9:11 and onwards, the writer talks about how Christ came as the new High Priest. We don't need earthly high priests anymore, because Jesus became our new High Priest once and for all.
He didn’t enter into the Holy of Holies with the blood of goats and calves like in the old system, but He entered the Most Holy Place, the writer says, once for all by His own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.
The Curtain Torn
And this is why, when Jesus died, we read in Mark 15:38 that “the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” This symbolised the fact that He had made atonement once for all, and that instead of a priest atoning for our sins every year, Jesus has atoned, and we can come into the Holy of Holies.
And so, this little line in the song is rich with all sorts of significance. By Your grace, by Your blood, I come into the Holy of Holies.
You see what the songwriter was saying. He was celebrating the fact that Jesus’ death has atoned for our sins, and so we can come into the closest communion with God—the place of closeness with Him that was always only reserved for the high priest.
But now we can draw near to God, not because we are worthy, but because He has given Himself, and His blood has made that atonement.
And so, will you draw near to God again today with the knowledge that if you’ve got faith in Him, you’re welcomed into the Holy of Holies, into the Most Holy Place? Go and read Hebrews 9 for a more thorough explanation of these things, but celebrate today the fact that Jesus has died for you, and if you’ve repented and surrendered to Him as Lord of your life, you too can go past that curtain that’s been torn and approach God with confidence because of His grace.
