After John the Baptist identified Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God, two of John’s disciples began to follow Jesus. “Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi…where dwellest thou?” (John 1:38). These two men may not have realized it, but they had just asked a fundamental question about the source of religious liberty. Because religious liberty comes from God, it originates in the place where God dwells. In reply, Jesus said to them, “Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day” (John 1:39).

Where does God dwell, and what does His dwelling place have to do with religious liberty? The Bible provides fascinating answers to these questions. After God miraculously delivered the Israelites from the Egyptian army, Moses led the nation of former slaves in a song of praise. He began, “I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea” (Exodus 15:1). Several verses later, Moses exclaimed, “Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation” (Exodus 15:13). 

When God freed Israel from slavery, He didn’t leave them in Egypt, the land of their captivity. Neither did He release them and say, “Now you’re on your own. Go find a land of liberty.” Instead, God guided them to His “holy habitation.” A few verses later, Moses revealed where God’s holy habitation is located. “Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established” (Exodus 15:17). The sanctuary is God’s dwelling place. It is the birthplace of true religious liberty. When God freed Israel from bondage, His purpose was to bring them into that place of true freedom. God’s plan was revealed a short time later when He told Moses, “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8). 

The sanctuary is not just a relic of history valuable only to those with an interest in ancient Israelite worship. That structure built in the wilderness, and the later temples constructed at Jerusalem, were models of God’s true dwelling place in heaven. The book of Hebrews says, “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man” (Hebrews 8:1, 2). That High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary is, of course, Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14-16).

Many people have a vague idea, if any at all, of what Jesus Christ has been doing in heaven since His ascension nearly two thousand years ago. The Bible is clear that the Redeemer did not return to heaven, set out a lawn chair, and take a much-deserved nap. Neither did the Savior jump into an angel-drawn motor home and embark on a victory tour of the universe. Not at all. Instead, the Lamb of God immediately began working as humanity’s High Priest.

And what does that mean? The book of Hebrews identifies at least three specific results of Christ’s work as High Priest. The first has to do with God’s divine law, what James calls the “law of liberty” (James 2:12). The author of Hebrews writes, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people” (Hebrews 8:10). Jesus promises to make His servants law-abiding citizens by writing the principles of His law of liberty on their minds and hearts. True religious liberty comes not from compliance with an external list of rules and regulations but from internal conformity to the principles of God’s kingdom. The law of God sits at the center of the battle for religious liberty, and Christ’s work in the sanctuary ensures that God’s servants will stand on the side of truth.

Christ’s work as High Priest also results in patience and faith for those that choose to trust in Him. Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus had to exercise both faith and patience in His life, and if He is to give these invaluable character qualities to His servants, it will naturally be His faith and His patience that are shared.

Someone may be thinking, These are nice promises, but what do the law of God, patience, and faith have to do with religious liberty? The book of Revelation reveals that they have everything to do with religious liberty, and with the final events of earth’s history. Revelation 13 predicts the mark of the beast, Satan’s final attempt to compel the conscience and force false worship on the entire world. Revelation 14:12 reveals how to avoid receiving the mark of the beast: “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12). These are the three exact character qualities that come as a result of Christ’s work in the sanctuary. We cannot obey on our own power. We cannot muster enough faith in our own power. We cannot patiently wait on God in our own power. In our own power, we remain helpless slaves to sin and to this world. But through Christ’s work in the heavenly sanctuary, we are promised the ability to obey, trust, and wait. Through the sanctuary, we are promised victory over sin and true religious liberty.

For King David, the sanctuary represented a place of protection, freedom, and liberty from his enemies. In the twenty-seventh psalm the warrior king wrote, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock” (Psalm 27:4, 5).

Religious liberty originates in the heavenly sanctuary. It is here that Christ serves as High Priest and gives people victory over sin. It is here that God’s servants find an anchor for their faith and assurance that their prayers will be heard and answered. It is here that the principles of God’s law of freedom are written on the mind and the heart. And it is here, in the heavenly sanctuary, that religious liberty is born, matures, and gains the victory.

Without a Biblical understanding of the sanctuary, religious liberty cannot be properly understood. Deny the existence of a heavenly sanctuary, and the only reality that remains is slavery to sin. The warning applies to individuals and to churches. Any church that ignores or forgets the sanctuary will eventually lose the entire gospel and devolve into spiritual tyranny. God’s way is in the sanctuary, and His promise of religious liberty is found in the place where He dwells.