7. (a) When did God anoint “the Holy of Holies,” and what did this mean? (b) What else happened to Jesus at the time of his baptism?

⁷ At the time of Jesus’ baptism, God’s heavenly abode was anointed, or set apart, as “the Holy of Holies” in the great spiritual temple arrangement. (Daniel 9:24)

The Heavenly Most Holy

8. What new features had God’s throne in heaven now taken on?

⁸ On the day of Jesus’ baptism, God’s heavenly throne had taken on new features. The identification of a perfect human sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world emphasized God’s holiness in contrast with man’s sinfulness. God’s mercy was also highlighted in that he now showed his willingness to be appeased, or propitiated. Thus God’s throne in heaven had become like the innermost compartment of the temple, where the high priest entered once a year with animal blood to atone for sin in an illustrative way.

9. (a) What did the curtain between the Holy and the Most Holy picture? (b) How did Jesus enter in beyond the curtain of God’s spiritual temple?

⁹ The curtain that separated the Holy from the Most Holy pictured Jesus’ fleshly body. (Hebrews 10:19, 20) It was the barrier that kept Jesus from entering into his Father’s presence while he was a man on earth. (1 Corinthians 15:50) At the time of Jesus’ death, “the curtain of the sanctuary was rent in two, from top to bottom.” (Matthew 27:51) This dramatically indicated that the barrier preventing Jesus’ entry into heaven had now been removed. Three days later, Jehovah God performed an outstanding miracle. He raised Jesus from the dead, not as a mortal human of flesh and blood, but as a glorious spirit creature “continuing alive forever.” (Hebrews 7:24) Forty days later, Jesus ascended to heaven and entered the real “Holy of Holies,” “to appear before the person of God for us.”—Hebrews 9:24.

10. (a) What happened after Jesus presented the value of his sacrifice to his heavenly Father? (b) What did the anointing with holy spirit mean for Christ’s disciples?

¹⁰ Did God accept the value of Jesus’ shed blood as atonement for the sins of the world? Indeed he did. Proof of this came exactly 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection, on the festival day of Pentecost. God’s holy spirit was poured out upon 120 disciples of Jesus gathered together in Jerusalem. (Acts 2:1, 4, 33) Like their High Priest, Jesus Christ, they were now anointed to serve as “a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices” under God’s great spiritual temple arrangement. (1 Peter 2:5) Furthermore, these anointed ones constituted a new nation, God’s “holy nation” of spiritual Israel. Henceforth, all prophecies of good things about Israel, such as the “new covenant” promise recorded at Jeremiah 31:31, would apply to the anointed Christian congregation, the real “Israel of God.”—1 Peter 2:9; Galatians 6:16.