We undertake this study because Daniel prophesies a cleansing of the sanctuary in Daniel 8:14. We are God's sanctuary in type, and there is an actual sanctuary in Heaven, of which the earthly sanctuary was modeled after, illustrating the broad contours of the plan of salvation.
Why Should the Sanctuary Need Cleansing?
In transferring sins into the sanctuary (Leviticus 4:4-7), you were to lay your hands upon the offering's head, confessing your sin upon the innocent victim, transferring it to the animal who becomes your substitute (Christ our substitute) — the innocent dying for the guilty, so the claims of the law are met (Romans 6:23).
Every day, sinners brought their sacrifices to the sanctuary, and their confessed sins were, in a sense, transferred to the sanctuary. As a result, the sanctuary became contaminated. Therefore, a periodic process of purification was needed to cleanse the sanctuary from the sins recorded there — called the Day of Atonement, once a year (Leviticus 16).
By analogy, the confessed sins of those who have accepted Jesus have been "transferred" to the heavenly sanctuary, just as the sins of repentant Israelites were transferred to the earthly sanctuary — and we can look forward to our spiritual sanctuaries being cleansed and presented faultless before God in judgment (Jude 24-25).
How Was the Sanctuary Cleansed?
The process in Leviticus 16 included two goats — one for the Lord, one a scapegoat. The priest caught the blood in a bowl and sprinkled it seven times before the veil of the Most Holy Place (Christ, who bled from both feet, both hands, His head from a crown of thorns, was pierced in His side, and died of a broken heart). As the earthly, so the heavenly: Christ became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21) and tasted death for us (Hebrews 2:9) — the innocent Christ became guilty, and guilty sinners became innocent. He ascended to the heavenly sanctuary, not empty-handed, ministering His own precious spilt blood (Hebrews 9:24, 11-12).
Who Does the Cleansing?
The High Priest was in charge of cleansing the sanctuary, just as Aaron cleansed it in Leviticus 16. Christ our High Priest does the cleansing for us, in our hearts and in Heaven, to prepare us for presentation to our Heavenly Father (Hebrews 8:1-2). Without confession, our sins won't be in the sanctuary for Him to cleanse — so we should confess diligently and leave nothing covered.
What Is Used to Cleanse the Sanctuary?
Blood is the cleansing agent (Leviticus 16:19). It is not a physical impurity that needs cleansing, since sin can only be paid for by death (Romans 6:23) — and not just any blood will satisfy a broken holy law. Only Christ's blood can do this (1 John 1:7). The work of cleansing the sanctuary is not a physical work, but a cleansing from sin in the spirit — restoring man into a born-again, new creature reflecting Christ's character.
"For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul."
When Does the Cleansing Begin?
The cleansing of the sanctuary depicted in Daniel 8:14 is the heavenly counterpart of the earthly service: sinners need a cleansing to restore a desolate, sin-stained sanctuary by the blood of the Messiah, to enable us to stand in judgment.
"Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, how long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And he said unto me, unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."
When Do We Start Counting?
Daniel 9:24-25 cuts seventy weeks (490 days) from the 2,300 days, tied to the coming of the Messiah — counted from the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. Using the day-for-a-year principle of prophecy (Ezekiel 4:6), this threefold decree was finally given by Artaxerxes in 457 B.C. Seven weeks (49 years) covered the rebuilding of Jerusalem, completed in 408 B.C. Sixty-nine weeks (483 years) reach to A.D. 27 — the year Jesus was baptized and anointed with the Holy Spirit. In the midst of the seventieth week, Messiah was to be "cut off" — three and a half years after A.D. 27 is A.D. 31, the year of the crucifixion.
Beginning with Christ's ministry in A.D. 27, the last week (seven years) reaches to A.D. 34 — the year Stephen was martyred and Paul was sent to the Gentiles. This first division of the 2,300-day prophecy confirms the correct starting date: 457 B.C. brings us to A.D. 1844.
What Was to Happen at the End of the 2,300 Years?
The only sanctuary of God in existence in 1844 was the heavenly sanctuary and our spiritual sanctuaries. At His ascension, Christ began His priestly ministry in the "holy place," the first room of the heavenly tabernacle (Hebrews 9:12). The second apartment, the "holy of holies," was not to be entered except on the Day of Atonement, when the sanctuary was to be cleansed from sin. That time arrived in 1844 — "at the time of the end" (Daniel 8:17) — the beginning of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, called the investigative judgment.
Was Christ's Death on the Cross Not Atonement Enough?
In the earthly sanctuary, when the goat was killed at the altar, the atonement was not completed by that act alone — the blood had to be taken into the sanctuary and brought into contact with the broken law. There was priestly work to follow. So when Christ died on the cross, He fulfilled the type of the slain goat, but the atonement could not be complete until the blood was offered before God and His broken law in the sanctuary on which His throne is set. If the atonement was completed at the cross, why did Jesus become a priest at all?
The Investigative Judgment
At the termination of the 2,300 days in 1844, Christ entered the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary to perform the closing work of atonement, preparatory to His coming — inspecting the record of every soul who has put faith in the promised Redeemer, from Adam's fall onward, until probation closes.
"He that is unjust, let him be unjust still... and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still... and, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me."
Summary
I am a sinner; Jesus is my sacrificial Lamb and also my High Priest. He has died for me, but His death is of no avail until I accept Him as my substitute. When I do, I confess my sins to God through Him, and my sins are transferred from myself to the sanctuary above, where Christ ministers as priest on my behalf. He takes away my sins and gives me His righteousness — but the record of them remains until blotted out in the judgment.
As the atonement has begun, and Christ is cleansing, sweeping, and inspecting the sanctuary in us and above, we should endeavor to keep our temples from further defilement — so as not to suffer the judgment of not being declared clean. For once this atonement and cleansing is done, Christ will not go back into the sanctuary to clean again — He will put away the priestly robes and put on His kingly robes to give His final judgment.