Theophylact of Ohrid, on Heb 8:5

“Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things. As it was answered to Moses, when he was to finish the tabernacle: See (saith he) that thou make all things according to the pattern which was shewn thee on the mount.”

“Here he shows the superiority of Christ's priesthood, calling the Old Testament priesthood "a copy and shadow," while ours is heavenly. For when nothing is earthly, but rather everything in the sacraments is spiritual, where there are angelic hymns, where there are the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the forgiveness of sins, and again the binding; when our citizenship is in heaven, then how can our priesthood not be heavenly? Therefore, what was revealed to Moses in the Old Testament served as a foreshadowing and pattern, that is, a dim copy and as it were a shadowy outline, of this heavenly priesthood. Since what we see with our eyes we grasp more readily than what we learn through hearing, God therefore "showed" Moses everything, not only the construction of the tabernacle, but also what pertains to the sacrifices and all the service.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.