Christian things: the essence of eternity descended into time

"It is in Hebrews for the first time that conscious reflection is observed and positive emphasis placed upon the primordial, constant, stable existence of the higher world, antedating and overarching and out­lasting all temporal developments, a world of the eternal, not subject to change and harboring the supreme realities.

"Hebrews recognizes, with Paul, that the finale of the great drama of redemption in the death and ascension of Christ has put its impress upon the things above. The heavenly sanctuary was cleansed; through Christ’s sacrifice the spirits of just men were made perfect; He carried with His new life the supreme form of the rest of God into the Sabbath that had been celebrated above from the beginning.

"Still the main stress is laid on the other side, on the fact that in reality all along the world to come had preexisted in its heavenly form. The chronological relation is reversed; that which in course of historical de­velopment appeared the last was in a deeper and truer sense the first. Broadly speaking, the Christian things are not a new product of time; they are rather the descent into time of the essence of eternity." -- Geerhardus Vos, "Hebrews, The Epistle of the Diatheke", Shorter Writings, p. 198, 199