The place where they serve is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."
See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.
Walk the Square · a single-voice walk of this pair around the Clowney square9:42
Significance
Earthly tabernacle is "a copy and shadow" of heavenly realities. Moses shown heavenly "pattern" (typos). Establishes spatial dualism (heaven/earth) from Jewish apocalyptic thought, not Platonic idealism. Heavenly tabernacle is permanent, eschatological reality where Christ serves. The author's hermeneutic finds within Exodus itself the indication that earthly worship structures were always meant to point beyond themselves to heavenly realities. This typological reading validates the transition from Levitical to Melchizedekian priesthood—the earthly was always derivative.
