Shadows of Heavenly Things

There is just something about the book of Hebrews that makes it one of my favorite books to study. I love it mainly because it's rich. It takes the Old Testament and shows its significance in light of Jesus, and that excites me every time I read it.

I love seeing how the Old Testament foreshadows Jesus; how the temple, the Levitical priesthood, the sacrifice system, and God's covenants with Abraham and Moses all point to Jesus. In regards to the covenants, sacrifice system, and laws that God instructed His people with, the author of Hebrews says:

They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things.
Hebrews 8:5

How beautiful is that? The whole system that God created in order to reconcile man to Himself served as a copy and shadow of heavenly things and what was and is to come. 

And then I started thinking about this more. A lot of life is a copy and shadow of heavenly things. Take marriage as an example. 

God made marriage and He even established the first marriage between Adam and Eve. Marriage is a good and beautiful thing made by God, but it's also a copy and shadow of a heavenly thing. Marriage images the relationship between Christ and his Bride, the Church. Here's what John wrote about the marriage supper in heaven in the book of Revelation:

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
    the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
    and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
    and his Bride has made herself ready;
 it was granted her to clothe herself
    with fine linen, bright and pure”--
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
Revelation 19:6-9

This is the wedding feast to come for the Lamb of God (Jesus) and his Bride (the church). Wedding feasts and marriages on earth are shadows of what is to come for those that believe in Jesus.

A shadow points to its original object, but the original object is always far better than the shadow. With that in mind, I'm excited to be married and enjoy the blessing of marriage in less than a month. But my marriage on earth will be a copy and shadow of an even better heavenly marriage to come.