There is a certain fascination that I have for roads. I like to travel a new way that I have never been on before; seeing new sights and encountering new experiences provide a real adventure. Some roads have forks, and then one must make a decision, and that decision will determine the future. Robert Frost wrote a poem about choosing the right fork.
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth. And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads to way, I doubted if I should ever come back." Robert Frost - "The Road Not Taken"
This poem is really talking about the road of life and how the choices we make are important. The Bible has a lot to say about roads and ways. The road to Damascus was the site of Saul's conversion; the road to Emmaus was the place where two discouraged disciples had their faith revived; the road to Jericho furnished the answer to the question of what it means to be neighborly; the road to Gaza became the scene in the conversion of the Ethiopian; and of course, the way of the cross marked the road to sacrifice and salvation.
Jesus said that He is the way, the truth, and the life. David stated, "Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary" (Ps. 7:13). Then there must be a vital connection between Jesus and the sanctuary. The ancient Hebrew sanctuary had three doors and three separate areas. The first door, or gate, led into the open court where was located the altar of sacrifice. The second door opened into the Holy Place containing three objects, the table of shewbread on the right, the seven pronged candlestick, or Menorah, on the left, and straight ahead was the altar of incense before the veil. When the veil was drawn back forming an opening of a five-sided pentagon (1 Kings 6:31, RSV.) there was revealed the Ark of the Covenant or Mercy Seat. The courtyard could be compared to the way, since the sacrifices offered there provided a way of escape; the Holy Place could be likened to the truth since the shewbread represented the Word of God, and the candlestick represented the light of the gospel; the Most Holy Place could represent life as offered through the forgiveness and mercy of God. Thus Jesus and the temple/sanctuary both demonstrate the way, the truth, and the life.
