The angel told Daniel that in 1844, at the end of the 2,300 years, “the sanctuary will be reconsecrated [cleansed, KJV].” But what does that mean?

Since A.D. 70 when the Romans destroyed the temple at Jerusalem, God’s people have had no temple on earth. So the sanctuary to be cleansed, beginning in 1844, has to be the heavenly sanctuary of which the earthly temple was only a replica.

Now, what does the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary mean? Ancient Israel called the day for cleansing the earthly sanctuary Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It was really a day of judgment to the Hebrew people.

As we discovered in guide 12, Christ’s activity for us in the sanctuary has two phases: 1. The daily sacrifices and ceremonies focus on the priest’s ministry in the first room of the sanctuary, the Holy Place. 2. The yearly sacrifices and ceremonies concentrate on the High Priest’s ministry in the second room of the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place (Leviticus 16 and 23; Hebrews 9:1-5).

In the earthly temple, as people confessed their sins day by day, the blood of slaughtered animals was sprinkled on the corner of the altar, and the priests ate the meat in the Holy Place (Leviticus 4 and 6). Thus, in symbol, day after day the confessed sins were brought into the sanctuary and laid up there.