A Sabbath Rest
Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15; Hebrews 4:1-11
The Plumb Line: Biblical Theology - Exodus, Exile & Eschatology
Part 2, Session 12 - A Sabbath Rest
Chuck Hartman
Fall Session 2025
November 20, 2025
Text: Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15; Hebrews 4:1-11
When Moses approached the burning bush, he heard the divine voice declaring,
“Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” From this event forward we are presented with numerous examples of ‘holy space’ – Jacob’s altar at Bethel, Mt. Sinai burning with fire and booming with thunder, the tabernacle in the wilderness, the Temple in Jerusalem. Holy space is a well attested phenomenon in all ancient cultures and is a concept that has persisted into the modern age. People still speak of the place in a church or cathedral where the service is conducted as the ‘sanctuary.’ Holy space is a reality in the Old Testament: the places where Yahweh descended to be among His people. It is debatable whether such a concept transfers into the New Covenant, with the Temple destroyed and replaced by the body of Christ, the Church. Thus, Paul writes to the Corinthians: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” And Peter speaks of every believer as ‘living stones’ being assembled into holy space.
Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (I Peter 2:4-5)
In typological prophetic history, holy space is very important both as the reality
of Israel’s God dwelling in the midst of His people and as pointing forward when He by the Holy Spirit would dwell within them. The first detailed development of this concept of holy space is the tabernacle, which will form the subject of the next chapter. At this point, however, another, less familiar and less-considered phenomenon needs to be investigated: holy time.