ent. Those who by faith followed their great High Priest, as He
entered upon His ministry in the most holy place, beheld the ark of His
testament. As they had studied the subject of the sanctuary, they had come
to understand the Saviour's change of ministration, and they saw that He
was now officiating before the ark of God, pleading His blood in behalf of
sinners.

The ark in the tabernacle on earth contained the two tables of stone, upon
which were inscribed the precepts of the law of God. The ark was merely a
receptacle for the tables of the law, and the presence of these divine
precepts gave to it its value and sacredness. When the temple of God was
opened in heaven, the ark of His testament was seen. Within the holy of
holies, in the sanctuary in heaven, the divine law is sacredly
enshrined,--the law that was spoken by God Himself amid the thunders of
Sinai, and written with His own finger on the tables of stone.

The law of God in the sanctuary in heaven is the great original, of which
the precepts inscribed upon the tables of stone, and recorded by Moses in
the Pentateuch, were an unerring transcript. Those who arrived at an
understanding of this important point, were thus led to see the sacred,
unchanging character of the divine law. They saw, as never before, the
force of the Saviour's words, "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one
tittle shall in no wise pass from the law."(717) The law of God, being a
revelation of His will, a transcript of His character, must forever
endure, "as a faithful witness in heaven." Not one command has been
annulled; not a jot or tittle has been changed. Says the psalmist:
"Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven." "All His commandments
are sure. They stand fast forever and ever."(718)

In the very bosom of the decalogue is the fourth commandment, as it was
first proclaimed: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days
shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath
of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son,
nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle,
nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh
day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it."(719)

The Spirit of God impressed the hearts of those students of His word. The
conviction was urged upon them, that