Back to Seventh-day Adventist Overview Sanctuary

The sanctuary doctrine, the investigative judgment, the 2,300 days, and the Day of Atonement.

The sanctuary doctrine is the Adventist answer to the Great Disappointment. When Christ did not return on October 22, 1844, believers such as the young Ellen Harmon and the Adventist expositor O.R.L. Crosier concluded that Daniel 8:14 did not predict the cleansing of the earth but the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary. Christ, on the Day of Atonement, entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary to begin an investigative judgment of the professed people of God. This doctrine transformed a failed date into the beginning of a new phase of Christ's high priestly ministry.

Adventist ClaimThe earthly sanctuary of the Old Testament was a type of the heavenly sanctuary; the 2,300 days ended in 1844 when Christ entered the most holy place to begin the investigative judgment, the anti-typical Day of Atonement.

Main ReceiptsUriah Smith, Daniel and the Revelation (1881); Ellen White, The Great Controversy (1888) and Early Writings; Miller, Evidence from Scripture and History.

Live DisputeEvangelical critics deny that the Old Testament sanctuary can support a heavenly work beginning in 1844, while Adventists see the typology of Leviticus 16 and Hebrews 8-9 as the key to the prophecy.

Component Map

6 pieces that have to be kept distinct.

The Earthly SanctuaryMoses built the tabernacle as a copy and shadow of the heavenly, with a holy place and a most holy place; the daily ministry and the yearly Day of Atonement prefigured Christ's work.

The 2,300 DaysDaniel 8:14 declares that the sanctuary will be cleansed after 2,300 evening-mornings, which Adventists compute by the year-day principle from 457 BCE to 1844 CE.

The Investigative JudgmentSince 1844 Christ has been examining the records of heaven, determining who among the professed people of God is truly faithful, before the final deliverance and the second coming.

The Day of AtonementLeviticus 16 describes the yearly cleansing of the sanctuary on the tenth day of the seventh month; October 22, 1844 was the anti-typical Day of Atonement when this heavenly work began.

Two Phases of MinistryAdventists distinguish Christ's daily ministry in the holy place from his final atonement ministry in the most holy place, begun in 1844, which completes the cleansing of the sanctuary.

The Blotting Out of SinsThe Day of Atonement ends with the removal of the record of sin; Adventists connect this with the final judgment, the investigative work, and the vindication of God's people before the universe.

Receipt Trail

Start here before drawing conclusions.

Daniel and the Revelation (1881)Uriah Smith's verse-by-verse commentary applying the year-day principle and the sanctuary judgment to Daniel 8:14.

The Great Controversy (1888)White's chapters on the sanctuary, the investigative judgment, and the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary.

Early Writings (1851/1882)White's early vision of the sanctuary and her explanation of the disappointment as a divine testing of the Advent people.