Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Hebrews 9:11

"But Christ having come a high priest of the good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation," — Hebrews 9:11 (ASV)

The author does not specifically explain what the “good things that are already here” are, but the expression is evidently a comprehensive way of summing up the blessings Christ has won for his people. The past tense in “came” points us to the Cross and all it means, though the author well knows that there is more to come than we now see. Yet the full realization of what this means is yet to come.

There is a difficult problem in the meaning of the “greater and more perfect tabernacle” (v.11) and with it the meaning of “through” (GK 1328), which relates to this tabernacle. Also, this same Greek word (translated “by means of” in v.12) relates negatively to the blood of animals and positively to the blood of Christ. Many commentators see a reference to heaven in “a greater and more perfect tabernacle”; others think of Christ’s flesh, his glorified body, or his people (cf. 3:6). Some suggestions seem negated by the words “not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation” (v.11). We should take notice of the similar expression in v.24, where the author says that it was by means of the heavenly sanctuary, and by means of Christ’s own blood (not that of animals), that Christ entered the holiest of all, into the presence of God. This is an emphatic way of saying that he has won for his people an effective salvation and that this has nothing to do with earthly sacrifices.

Some suggest that Christ took his blood into heaven, implying that Christ’s atoning work was not completed on the cross but that he still had to do some atoning act in heaven, just like the earthly high priest who took the blood into the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement. This is unwarranted. In this letter, what Christ did on the cross was final and needed no supplement. “Once for all” (GK 2384) underlines the decisive character of his saving work. There can be no repetition. “Redemption” (GK 3391) is the process of setting free by the payment of a ransom price, in this case the death of Jesus.