Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is SEATED at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent which is set up not by man but by the Lord.
Hebrews 8:1‭-‬2 RSV

Hebrews 8 emphasizes as the crowning topic in connection with our Lord’s priesthood, the fact that he has been made higher than the heavens.

Two words in these verses challenge our attention because of the paradox, Hebrews 8:1 presenting our Lord as “seated,” whereas Hebrews 8:2 hails him as a “minister of the sanctuary,” that is, “a servant.”

Both seated and serving, therefore, our Lord is contrasted with the temporal high priests who found no chair within the Holy of Holies, thus never being seated, and never permitted to remain except for a short period of time.

The seated and serving Christ, on the other hand, abides in perfect and eternal control of the ministry on behalf of man which does not require that he busy himself with this or that, but which service has already been essentially completed, requiring only his presence upon the throne of God to assure its perfect administration and efficacy.

THE TEMPLE IN HEAVEN

The reference in this place to existence of a heavenly temple or tabernacle requires that any notion of a literal or actual temple or court in some particular locale beyond the earth’s atmosphere be refuted.

It is the conviction of this writer that such language is used by the Holy Spirit in order to bring down to the level of human comprehension those heavenly realities which are not capable of any complete finite understanding, and that the eloquent words used in the sacred text are accommodated to man’s weakness and limitations, and that the marvelous realities thus described are fantastically beyond the total human knowledge of them, the very power and ability of language itself, as a means of communication, being helpless to transmit anything more than a typical or suggestive outline of the things that are in the heavens.

Therefore, with the deepest reverence and humility, people should strive in these matters to think God’s thoughts after Him, and not to crush the knowledge of that upper and better world into the straitjacket of its revealing metaphor.

The whole earth is seen as God’s temple in Psalms 29, and a mighty thunderstorm in the wilderness is envisioned as actually taking place within the temple.

“In his temple doth every one speak of his glory. The Lord sitteth upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth King forever”
Psalms 29:9,10

Micaiah saw a vision of the Almighty hold court in heaven: “I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left” (1 Kings 22:19).

Isaiah’s vision of God’s throne (Isaiah 6) located it within the temple and stressed the service of the seraphim, mentioning the Lord’s train, the smoke of incense, and the live coals on the altar.

‭‭Isaiah 6:1-13
[1] In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.
[2] Above him stood the seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
[3] And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
[4] And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
[5] And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
[6] Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
[7] And he touched my mouth, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven.”
[8] And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
[9] And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “ ‘Hear and hear, but do not understand; see and see, but do not perceive.’
[10] Make the heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
[11] Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without men, and the land is utterly desolate,
[12] and the Lord removes men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
[13] And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains standing when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump.
Isaiah 6:1-13 RSV

Ezekiel beheld God’s throne above the firmament as having the appearance of a sapphire stone, and as the appearance of fire, and as of the brightness of the rainbow, a very high eminence, being invariably above even the heads of the cherubim (Ezekiel 1:26-28; 10:1).

Psalms 11:4 has “The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven.” Micah saw the Lord’s “holy temple” as far above the earth from which the Lord would come down and tread “upon the high places of the earth” (Micah 1:2,3).

Habakkuk has the renowned call to worship:

“But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him
Habakkuk 2:20

From all these and many other references, should it be concluded that there is literally a temple in heaven?

No.

These revelations symbolize and typify facts and realities beyond any intellectual grasp.

That such a conclusion is true appears from the surpassingly extensive vision of the apostle John concerning the Holy City coming down from God out of heaven, in which it is categorically stated: