Hebrews 8

 ¹Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

 ²a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.

Jesus is our high priest if we have received Him by faith.  He is the only way to access the presence of God.  He currently reigns with God in heaven, being seated at His right hand.  The presence of God in heaven is the true sanctuary and true tabernacle which we all long for.  It is not of man but of God.  Presently, Christ indwells our hearts, but we long to see Him face to face in heaven. 

 ³For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer.

 ⁴Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law;

 ⁵who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, "SEE," He says, "THAT YOU MAKE all things ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN WHICH WAS SHOWN YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN."

 ⁶But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.

Jesus has obtained a more excellent ministry by becoming the mediator of a new and better covenant enacted upon better promises.  Priests had the job of offering gifts and sacrifices before God.  Jesus’ job was to establish a new heavenly covenant, not a mere earthly one.  He was not serving a mere earthly pattern (Exodus 25:40), for His job was to establish heavenly things, things that the earthly priesthood was only a copy and shadow of.   

 ⁷For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.  ⁸For finding fault with them, He says,
         "BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD,
         WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT
         WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH;
    ⁹NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS
         ON THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND
         TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT;
         FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT,
         AND I DID NOT CARE FOR THEM, SAYS THE LORD.
    ¹⁰"FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL
         AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD:
         I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS,
         AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS.
         AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD,
         AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
    ¹¹"AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN,
         AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, 'KNOW THE LORD,'
         FOR ALL WILL KNOW ME,
         FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM.
    ¹²"FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES,
         AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE."

 ¹³When He said, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

In Jesus, the old covenant became obsolete (Jeremiah 31:31-34).  We can now see how the entirety of the Law was a foreshadowing of the second covenant which was necessary to come.  God promised to write righteousness on the hearts of His people because the new covenant was a matter of the heart.  Clearly, the first covenant wasn’t faultless, otherwise there would have been no need for a second.   

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