Ezekiel is told to mark well the entrance and all the exits. I noted that there was only one entrance but many exits. Specifically, it says the entrance to the temple and all the exits from the sanctuary.

There is only one way into the sacred Temple, the Body of Christ, and that’s faith in the name of Jesus Christ and its power to save from sin and death.

But there are many exits from the sanctuary. The root of that word, sanctuary, is sanct, having to do with sanctification, being made holy, being set apart for a purpose.

There are many exits from holiness. In these chapters we read about the holy garments and eating the devoted things. What does holiness in the sanctuary look like for us?

It always starts with the heart. The heart needs to be circumcised. The flesh needs to be cut off and the Spirit-life needs to fill its place. That’s removing the common and being made holy.

We are to be holy to the Lord, separated from sin, self, and the world, and separated to God. We let go of everything of this life and cling to Jesus. We identify our lives with His. We don’t have our own lives anymore.

That’s where all the exits come in, the not being willing to let go of sin, self, and the world.

Those things will show in our lives in how we spend our time, in what we say, and in our attitudes. When they are found in the lives of Christians, then it starts showing up in the church, and what was supposed to be sacred and set apart becomes common and unclean.