a public servant of the holy place and of the true tent, which Jehovah put up, and not man.”

25. Why did Jesus not serve as high priest at the temple in Jerusalem, and of what was the Jerusalem temple a type?

²⁵ Jesus Christ, when on earth as a perfect man, never served as a public servant at the temple in Jerusalem. He was not authorized by the Law of Moses to do so, for he was not a Levite or of the priestly family of Aaron. However, he served at a higher holy place, at a higher or more important temple, that was not put up at Jerusalem by men such as King Herod the Great or Governor Zerubbabel or King Solomon. Those man-made temples, like the sacred tent of meeting that the prophet Moses set up, were merely typical, illustrative. (Exodus 40:1-33) There is no record that King Melchizedek built a temple in Salem and needed such a building to serve as “priest of the Most High God.” So nothing like that in connection with Melchizedek can be used as a type. But the Greater Melchizedek, Jesus Christ, serves as High Priest at the antitypical holy place and temple, namely, “the holy place and the true tent, which Jehovah put up.”