Is Hebrews 8:2 suggesting that the "true tabernacle" is a physical building in the sky?

Question

[Heb 8:2-5 CSB] (2) a minister of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that was set up by the Lord and not man. (3) For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; therefore, it was necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. (4) Now if he were on earth, he wouldn't be a priest, since there are those offering the gifts prescribed by the law. (5) These serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was warned when he was about to complete the tabernacle. For God said, Be careful that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.

Is the "true tent" a structure in the sky that Moses looked at and copied? Isn't it rather the Christ, and/or the body of Christ?

[2Co 6:16 CSB] (16) And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, as God said: I will dwell and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Answer 1

There are three separate questions here that should not be confused.

The Temple as a Metaphor: The earthly temple/tabernacle/sanctuary was used as Jewish metaphor for several things such as

• Jesus as Messiah in various ways such as the sacrificial lamb (John 1:29, Rom 8:3, 1 Cor 5:7, Heb 9:12); Jesus was the bread of life (6:35-51); The light of the Menorah represented Jesus (John 8:12, 9:5); Jesus was the door (John 10:7-9); Jesus opened the curtain to the Most Holy Place (2 Cor 3:13-16, Heb 6:19, 9:3, 10:20); Jesus is represented as our great High Priest and intercessor in heaven (Heb 4:16, 7:25, 10:22, Rom 8:26, 34, 1 John 2:1, 2, 1 Tim 2:5, John 14:6);
• The Temple represented Jesus’ body (John 2:19-21)
• The Temple represented a Christian’s body (1 Cor 6:19, 20).
• The Temple represents the community of believers (or church) (1 Cor 3:16, 17)

Earthly Sanctuary vs Heavenly Sanctuary The fact that Moses was shown something in the mountain does not suggest that the earthly sanctuary was anything like the heavenly sanctuary. It could NOT have been - there is no sacrifice in heaven, there are real angels not just embroidered ones, the heavenly is much larger. However, the earthly temple/tabernacle represented the work of Jesus and His mediatorial work of intercession as our Great High priest in Heaven (Heb 4:16, 7:25, 10:22, Rom 8:26, 34, 1 John 2:1, 2, 1 Tim 2:5, John 14:6).

The note about Moses building the sanctuary according to the "pattern" (Ex 25:9, 40, 26:30, Num 8:4, etc) in the mountain is the same word used to describe what Solomon built in 1 Chron 28:19 which was quite different. In 1 Kings 16:10 the same word is used to describe the "sketch" sent by Ahaz to Jerusalem. (See also Isa 44:13) Therefore, the earthly sanctuary was not a copy of the heavenly but a teaching device to teach about heavenly realities (Heb 9:11-14, 10:1) that "is not part of this creation". So the earthly could NOT be physically similar to the heavenly.

Heavenly Realities

None of the above should detract from some reality, left without description, in heaven; that is the "true tabernacle" (Heb 8:2, 9:8), that Christ entered (Heb 6:19, 20) after His ascension, and where Christ ministers and intercedes. We have no idea about what this looks like or anything much about it at all except that Jesus is our High Priest there (Heb 4:14, 15, 7:26, 10:22, Rom 8:26, 34, 1 John 2:1, 2, 1 Tim 2:5, etc.)

Answer 2

⁷And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
-- Genesis 1:7 (KJV)

Prior to Genesis 1:7, there was waters/water¹. After Genesis 1:7, there was

• the firmament

• waters/water below the firmament

• waters/water above the firmament

The "firmament" represented a separation of realms -- the one that existed below from the one that existed above, i.e. that of rivers, seas, vegetation, animals and man from that of sun, moon, stars and God.

The region above the ground and below the firmament represented the sky/heavens, but the realm of God's abode was above the firmament, whether that realm was with the sun, moon and stars or above them is not clear from the Genesis passage.

What is pretty clear, though, is that the ancients believed God existed "above" the firmament not "in" the firmament or the region below it.

The pattern shown to Moses was of a construction that he was to build on earth. There is nothing in the Torah that suggests Moses was shown anything that existed in the heaven/heavens, be that the realm of flyers below the firmament and above the ground, the firmament itself, or the realm of sun, moon, stars and God, above the firmament.

Conclusion
No, Moses wasn't shown a "physical building in the sky". He was shown a "pattern" (figure/likeness/similitude) of something that God wanted him to build on earth. Reasonably, that would be a drawing or model (a la, the one God instructed Ezekiel to build representing the siege of Jerusalem: Ezekiel 4:1-3) of exactly what was expected, not a grand heavenly edifice that he would have to adapt to construction on earth.

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Notes:

1. Greek: ὕδατος, water; Hebrew: מַ֖יִם, waters

Answer 3

As required by the Law, only the high priest could enter the Most Holy of the tabernacle and, later, the temple’s Most Holy. This compartment was separated from the Holy by a curtain. The high priest passed beyond that curtain only on the Day of Atonement. (Heb. 9:1-3, 6, 7) Just as Aaron and his successors were anointed as high priests before entering “through the [literal] curtain” of the tabernacle, Jesus must have been appointed as the High Priest of God’s great spiritual temple before he died and thereafter passed “through the curtain, that is, his flesh” to heavenly life. (Heb. 10:20) For this reason, the apostle Paul referred to Jesus as coming “as a high priest” and then passing “through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands” and into “heaven itself.”​—Heb. 9:11, 24.

The "true tent" is not a structure in the sky that Moses looked at and copied. It is the Christ.