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The book of Hebrews, perhaps more than any other book in Scripture, presents heaven as the ultimate dwelling place of the triune God, set apart as a holy realm of worship and filled with His unchanging glory (Heb. 8:1–2; 9:24; 12:22–24). It also teaches that Spirit-gifted faith lays hold of Christ Himself, the ascended Forerunner, who has entered heaven on behalf of His people (6:20; 7:25; 11:1). Because we are united to Christ, the church begins even now to share in His heavenly blessings. These include glory, rest, joy, and communion with God (2:10; 4:3; 10:19–22; 12:2, 28–29).
heaven: the dwelling place of god
Hebrews reveals that heaven is a “city” (Heb. 11:16) of “Sabbath rest” (4:9) with “Mount Zion” (12:22) at its religious center. And in this heavenly city of Sabbath rest there is a holy dwelling place of God—the “true that the Lord set up, not man” (8:2). Within that holy tabernacle in heaven rests the “throne of the Majesty in heaven” (8:2), a “glorious throne set on high from the beginning” (Jer. 17:12). Heaven was regalized from the beginning as the royal place to reveal the glory of God (Rev. 21:23). Heaven was consecrated from the beginning of creation as the holy place to facilitate the worship of God (Neh. 9:6). Hebrews describes heaven as “the city of the living God” and as “Mount Zion” (Heb. 12:22). It is the true sanctuary where God’s glory is displayed and where He is worshiped.
The Lord revealed His glorious dwelling to the prophets in the Old Testament. Isaiah, for instance, “saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple” (Isa. 6:1). In this holy dwelling place, above the Lord “stood the seraphim,” who called to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (vv. 2–3). The living seraphim encircle the throne of God as His temple is permeated with the radiant glory of His presence.
When John saw “a door standing open in heaven” (Rev. 4:1), he was “at once . . . in the Spirit” and saw “a throne . . . in heaven” (v. 2), with living seraphim encircling His throne and acclaiming in worship, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (v. 8). Heaven is thus the place where the glory of God is set on display as the end of created existence and where elect angels and men worship God forever.
The author of Hebrews makes plain that by a “faith” that lays hold of “things not seen” (Heb. 11:1), the church of the triune God has “come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (12:22). The church has come to that city, has begun to ascend its mountain, and has begun to enter its tabernacle to join in the worship of God along with “angels in festal gathering” (v. 22) and the “spirits of the righteous made perfect” (v. 23). According to Hebrews, then, worship of the unchanging glory of God forms the central activity of elect angels and men in heaven.
christ: the forerunner who has entered heaven
Heaven’s unchanging glory is displayed most clearly in Jesus Christ, the glorified Son of God. As the church by the Spirit and through faith begins to ascend Mount Zion, it comes “to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (Heb. 12:24). He is the Lamb (Rev. 5:6), who fills heaven with His glory and receives the worship of His redeemed people. Each Lord’s Day, when the church gathers for worship, it is drawn by faith into this heavenly reality to worship the Lamb.
In Hebrews 6:19–20, the author provides us with his theology of union with Christ in a single term. He speaks of Jesus as the “forerunner” (v. 20) of the church precisely because He has entered “the inner place behind the curtain” (v. 19) in the heavenly tabernacle of God. As Forerunner, He supplies a “sure and steadfast anchor [for] the soul” (v. 19) as a “high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (v. 20). Jesus, as the ascended Forerunner, anchors the hope of His church. This leads us to reflect for a few moments on the ascended Christ as the “forerunner” of those joined to Him in a bond of union and communion by the Spirit and through faith.
The word “forerunner” points to Christ’s ascension into heaven as our representative. He has gone before us as our Mediator, bringing His people into the glory (Heb. 2:10) and rest (4:3) of heaven. As Geerhardus Vos notes, the term “forerunner” suggests One who not only “leads and opens access” but also “anticipates in himself the enjoyment of the access he mediates to others.” Just as Jesus is the “firstfruits” of one resurrection harvest—an event that includes His people with Him in resurrection life (1 Cor. 15:20), so also Jesus is the “forerunner” who has entered into the glory and the rest within the heavenly sanctuary as a High Priest in service of His church (Heb. 8:1–2).
By faith, the church in the wilderness has begun to enter Sabbath rest (4:3), has begun to ascend the heavenly mountain (12:22), and above all has come “to Jesus” (12:24), even as it awaits the consummate entrance by sight in bodily resurrection at the end of the age (4:9–10; 9:28). This flows from union with the Mediator, who now confers on His church His own enjoyments of heaven: the joy of heavenly life (John 15:11; 16:22; 1 Peter 1:8), the pleasure in communion with the Father (Pss. 16:11; 36:8; Luke 12:32; Rev. 3:20), and the rest entered in the Spirit (Heb. 4:3, 9–10; Rev. 14:13). Jesus has entered into “the joy that was set before him” (Heb. 12:2), and as Forerunner, He now communicates that joy to His church, drawing those united to Him into worship on the heavenly mountain.
As we await the consummation of our joy and entrance into heaven itself—when the earthly is fully conformed to the heavenly (Rev. 21:2)—let us continue to worship “with reverence and awe,” receiving even now “a kingdom that cannot be shaken,” in union with our mountain-ascending Mediator—the Forerunner, Jesus Christ (Heb. 6:20; 12:28–29).