9:23 the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices. The heavenly sanctuary itself does not need to be purified from defilement by human sin. However, just as the earthly sanctuary was purified by sacrificial blood and set apart as the place where sinful humans could approach God, so also the true, heavenly sanctuary has now been set apart by the sacrifice of Christ as a meeting place for sinful people to enter, drawing near to God through the blood of Jesus (10:19–22; 12:24).