But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God… – Hebrews 10:12
The typical priests stood because there was work to do; still must they present their sacrifices; but our Lord sits down because there is no more sacrificial work to do; atonement is complete, He has finished His task. There were no seats in the tabernacle. Observe the Levitical descriptions and you will see that there were no resting-places for the priests in the holy place. Not only were none allowed to sit, but there was nothing whatever to sit upon. According to the rabbis, the king might sit in the holy places, and, perhaps, David did sit there; if so, he was a striking type of Christ sitting as king. A priest never sat in the tabernacle, he was under a dispensation which did not afford rest, and was not intended to give it, a covenant of works which gives the soul no repose. Jesus sits in the holy of holies, and herein we see that His work is finished.
He “sat down;” this shows that He took possession of the holy place. Under the law, when the priest had done his work, what did he do? He went home. Neither the temple nor the tabernacle was his home. If you had asked a priest, “Where dwellest thou?” he would have said, “amongst the tribe of Levi yonder I have my abode.” But this Man, when He had finished His work, sat down in the holy place, because He was at home, not a servant only but a son, yea, and Lord of the whole house; and, therefore, He took His own seat therein by right. It is a joyful truth that He did this representatively, to show us that while the law gave no permanent possession and could not establish the seed of Israel in possession of sacred privileges, the gospel gives us an abiding place amongst the children of God, who dwell in His house for ever. The apostle tells us where this seat of Christ was. He says, He “sat down at the right hand of God.” This indicates the highest glory possible; our poet calls it, “The highest place that heaven affords.”
