Depicted here, a Christian preaches to two Jews as they stand at the base of the temple mount in Jerusalem. Hebrew Christians living in Jerusalem had to be courageous in order to preach to fellow Jews about salvation through Jesus Christ, the true Messiah. Many aspects of everyday life of the people around them were based on the Mosaic Law and various Jewish traditions. At the magnificent temple in Jerusalem (depicted in the background), the Levitical priests were offering up animal sacrifices according to the Mosaic Law. The Jews may have pointed to these visible things to prove that their way of worship was superior. However, about the year 61 C.E., Paul wrote a letter to the Hebrew Christians in which he showed that the Christian way of worship is far superior to that of Judaism. He pointed out that Christians have a superior temple, a spiritual one, and a superior High Priest, “Jesus the Son of God.” They also have a superior sacrifice, which needed to be given only once for all time. Paul explained all these heavenly realities. (Heb 4:14; 7:27, 28; 9:24, 25) That spiritual outlook no doubt motivated the Hebrew Christians and gave them the courage they needed to carry out their worship of Jehovah God. An important part of that worship is the offering of sacrifices of praise, which Paul describes as “the fruit of . . . lips that make public declaration to [God’s] name.” He adds: “God is well-pleased with such sacrifices.” (Heb 13:15, 16) In contrast, after 33 C.E., the animal sacrifices offered at the temple had no value for gaining God’s approval.

Shown here is a page from the papyrus codex referred to as P⁴⁶. This codex contains nine of Paul’s inspired letters, although they are placed in an order different from the one found in most modern-day Bibles. For example, the letter to the Hebrews comes immediately after the letter to the Romans. (See Media Gallery, “Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians.”) The leaf shown above is kept at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A. The end of Paul’s letter to the Romans can be seen at the top of the page. (In this manuscript, the letter to the Romans ends with what is chapter 16, verse 23, in modern-day Bible translations; the remainder of the letter, what is now Ro 16:25-27, appears at the end of chapter 15.) The title of the letter that follows (highlighted in the photo) reads “Toward [or, “To”] Hebrews.” It is worth noting that the letter to the Hebrews is here included among other letters written by Paul. This fact, along with others, supports the conclusion that Paul was the writer of this inspired letter. The codex is believed to date from about the year 200 C.E., that is, about 150 years after Paul originally penned his letters.​—See “Introduction to Hebrews.”

1. Stock

2. Shank

3. Fluke

4. Arm

5. Collar

In the account of Paul’s voyage to Rome, the use of anchors is mentioned repeatedly. (Ac 27:13, 29, 30, 40) In ancient times, the first anchors seem to have been stone weights and other simple devices. By the time of Paul’s travels, however, more advanced anchors had been developed. Shown here is a drawing of a hook anchor that was common in Roman times. This kind of anchor was usually made of metal and wood. The heavy stock, typically made of lead, weighed the anchor down, and one of the anchor’s arms dug into the seafloor. Large boats often had a number of anchors. (Ac 27:29, 30) An anchor discovered near Cyrene, on the African coast, weighs about 545 kg (1,200 lb), giving added meaning to Paul’s statement that “we have this hope as an anchor for the soul.”—Heb 6:19.

In the first compartment of the tabernacle, called the Holy, there was “a lampstand of pure gold” with seven lamps. By means of a vision on Mount Sinai, Jehovah gave Moses detailed instructions on how to make this lampstand. (Ex 25:31-40; Nu 8:4) In part, Moses was told: “Its base, its stem, its branches, its cups, its knobs, and its blossoms will be one piece.” Together with its lamps and utensils, the lampstand was to weigh one talent, which would equal 34.2 kg (1,101 oz t). Every morning, a priest had to maintain, or take care of, the lamps​—for example, he would replace the wicks and replenish the oil. Every evening, he lit the lamps to provide light for the Holy. (Ex 27:20, 21; 30:7, 8) Paul mentions the lampstand when comparing the old covenant and the tabernacle with the superior new covenant and the heavenly realities of “the true tent.”​—Heb 8:2, 5.

In the first compartment of the tabernacle, called the Holy, there was a table made of acacia wood and overlaid with pure gold. “The showbread,” or according to the Christian Greek Scriptures “the loaves of presentation,” was placed on that table. (Ex 25:30; Heb 9:2) On Mount Sinai, Jehovah gave Moses a vision that included detailed instructions on how to make this table. (Ex 25:9, 23-29; Nu 8:4) It was to be two cubits long, a cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high. (See App. B14.) The Hebrew expression rendered “showbread” literally means “bread of the face.” The word for “face” sometimes denotes “presence.” (2Ki 13:23) The showbread was constantly in front of Jehovah’s face as an offering. Every Sabbath, a priest had to place 12 fresh loaves on the table. The loaves were placed in two stacks of six each. (Le 24:4-8) Paul mentions the table of showbread when discussing the old covenant and the tabernacle, comparing such physical things with greater heavenly realities.​—Heb 8:5.

“The ark of the covenant,” mentioned at Heb 9:4, contained two tablets of stone on which the Ten Commandments were written. These commandments were the ten laws that served as the foundation of the Law covenant between God and the nation of Israel. Jehovah himself wrote the Ten Commandments on the front and back of the tablets before he gave them to Moses on Mount Sinai. (Ex 31:18; 32:15) When Moses returned to the camp of Israel and saw the people practicing calf worship, he angrily threw the two original tablets to the ground, shattering them. (Ex 32:19) So God instructed Moses to carve two new tablets, on which Jehovah again wrote the Ten Commandments. (De 10:1, 2) The Ten Commandments as well as the rest of the Law covenant were replaced in 33 C.E. by the new covenant between Jehovah and the nation of spiritual Israel. Jehovah writes his laws figuratively on the hearts of those in the new covenant. (Heb 8:10, 13) But the principles underlying the Ten Commandments still apply to Jehovah’s people.​—Ro 13:8-10.

The arrangement for worship at the sacred tent, or tabernacle, in ancient Israel “is an illustration.” (Heb 9:9) By means of this arrangement, Jehovah revealed that he would forgive the sins of mankind on the basis of Jesus’ ransom sacrifice. For example, at the tabernacle on the Day of Atonement, the high priest performed a ceremony that had great symbolic meaning. (Heb 9:6, 7) From this video, learn how some of the features of that ceremony pointed to activities that Jesus would perform as “a great high priest.”​—Heb 4:14.

The Hebrew and Greek terms translated “hyssop” in many Bible translations (Hebrew ʼe·zohvʹ and Greek hysʹso·pos) may embrace several different kinds of plants. Shown here is marjoram (Origanum maru; Origanum syriacum), the plant that many scholars think is referred to by the Hebrew term. This plant of the mint family is common in the Middle East. Under favorable conditions, it attains a height of 0.5 to 0.9 m (1.5 to 3 ft). In the Bible, this hyssop is often associated with cleanness. (Ex 12:21, 22; Le 14:2-7; Nu 19:6, 9, 18; Ps 51:7) In the Christian Greek Scriptures, “hyssop” is mentioned only twice. Heb 9:19 describes the inauguration of the old covenant, and in that context, “hyssop” evidently refers to the plant mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures. At Joh 19:29, Jesus is said to have been given a sponge full of sour wine “on a hyssop stalk” held up to his mouth. Scholars have different opinions about which plant the Greek word hysʹso·pos refers to in this context. Some think that because marjoram might not have been long enough to carry the sponge to Jesus’ mouth, the term here refers to another plant with a longer stalk, perhaps durra, a variety of common sorghum (Sorghum vulgare). Others think that even in this case, hyssop may have been marjoram. They suggest that a bunch of marjoram may have been attached to the “reed” mentioned by Matthew and Mark.—Mt 27:48; Mr 15:36.

These artifacts show some of the writing materials available in the first century C.E. Writers may have used a pen that was cut from the type of reed that grew along the Nile River. They normally used inexpensive black ink that was held in an inkwell. They wrote on a variety of surfaces, such as wooden tablets, clay fragments, parchment, or papyrus. A writer could compose a long letter on a scroll of papyrus and trim off the extra length for later use. For a short letter, the writer could purchase one sheet, which the vendor would cut off a roll. Most letters were brief. For example, Paul’s letter to Philemon would be considered of average length. The majority of the books in the Christian Greek Scriptures are letters, written by Jesus’ disciples under inspiration.