When Empty Places Become Holy Spaces
Hebrews 10:19–22
“Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain… let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.”
The Empty Chair”
There are records from Civil War-era diaries describing how mothers would set an extra plate at the table for a son fighting far from home. Even after the news arrived that he had fallen, the mother often continued the tradition for a time— laying the plate, straightening the silverware, placing the cup by the chair that no one would sit in again.
People would ask her why she kept doing it. She’d answer, “Because the empty chair keeps me looking toward heaven instead of the grave.”
An empty place can do that. It can lift the eyes. It can whisper of hope beyond loss. And Scripture shows that God uses empty places to turn our attention heavenward— from the cleared temple court to the exposed Holy of Holies, to the empty tomb that changed everything.
I. The Empty Court – Jesus Clears the Temple (Matthew 21:12–13)
A. The Court of the Gentiles: a place meant for seekers
• This was the only place non-Jews could worship. It was meant to be a welcoming place—a place where the nations could pray.
• But by Jesus’ day, it had become a marketplace. Animals bleated. Coins clanged. Merchants shouted. The noise drowned out the possibility of worship.
B. Jesus Creates Holy Emptiness
• Jesus didn’t gently rearrange furniture or politely ask people to leave. He emptied the space. He drove out merchants and moneychangers. He overturned tables. He silenced chaos to restore prayer.
• He quoted Isaiah 56:7: “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
C. Spiritual lesson
God often removes before He restores. He clears out distractions that keep us from Him. Sometimes God empties our hearts, calendars, or priorities so the noise can be replaced with worship.
II. The Empty Holy of Holies – The Veil Torn (Matthew 27:50–51)
A. The Ark Was Already Gone
• Only the High Priest could enter and sprinkle the blood from the animal sacrifices on the Ark of the Covenant to atone for the nation’s sins.
• He went behind the veil, and only HE knew the truth.
• When Jesus died, and the veil tore from top to bottom, the room behind it—the Holy of Holies—was empty. The Ark of the Covenant had been missing since the days of the Babylonian exile.
• What did this emptiness reveal?
B. The Old System Could Not Save
• The empty room exposed the truth: atonement wasn’t found in rituals, but in the Redeemer. They went for centuries, unable to properly perform the atonement ritual, yet God atoned for them
• The veil tore because the genuine Mercy Seat—Jesus Himself—had come.
• Hebrews 9:12 says: 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood, He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
C. Theological lesson
The emptiness of the Holy of Holies means access. God opened the way. No more priests. No more separation. No more sacrifices. We enter God’s presence by the blood of Jesus alone.
III. The Empty Tomb – First Fruits of Resurrection (Matthew 28:1–6)
A. The Tomb Was Empty of Jesus’ Body—But Not Silent
• The angel said, “He is not here, for He has risen.”
• This emptiness carried the loudest message in human history: Death has been defeated.
B. First Fruits and the Resurrection (1 Corinthians 15)
• Jesus rose on the Feast of First Fruits.
• At His death, Matthew 27:51-53 says saints were raised and appeared in Jerusalem.
• These were signs of the harvest to come.
• Paul writes: “Christ has been raised… the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” (1 Cor. 15:20)
• Jesus is the first sheaf lifted before the Lord— the promise that a full harvest of resurrection will follow.
C. Spiritual lesson
The empty tomb teaches us that emptiness is not the end—it is the beginning. Where we see endings, God begins eternity.
IV. The God-Shaped Empty Place in Every Human Heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 3:11, “He has set eternity in their hearts.”
Inside every human being is a God-shaped empty place— longing for meaning, purpose, belonging, and eternity.
A. What this empty place is
• A longing for purpose beyond the temporary
• A longing for connection with the divine
• A longing for eternal life, not just existence
This emptiness is not a flaw; it is evidence that we were designed for God.
B. How people try to fill it
Like Solomon, people try to satisfy the void with:
• pleasure
• relationships
• achievement
• wealth
• entertainment
• even religious routines
But none of these fit. Because the empty place is shaped like Him, only He can fill it.
C. How God fills the empty place
• Through Christ’s sacrifice, removing sin, the barrier to fellowship
• Through His presence, giving identity, peace, and meaning
• Through the Holy Spirit, who pours God’s love into our hearts (Romans 5:5)
• Through the new and living way opened by Christ (Hebrews 10:19–22)
Just as God emptied the Court, revealed the empty Holy of Holies, and emptied the Tomb, He also enters and fills the empty places in us.
God Uses Empty Places Today
1. Empty Places Reveal What Truly Matters[RYR missed the most exciting adventure of his life for money.
2. Empty Places Become Spaces for Worship [John 4:24
3. Empty Places Lead Us to God’s Presence The torn veil invites us into bold, daily communion with God.
4. Empty Places Prepare Us for Resurrection
5. Empty Places Are Holy Invitations to Seek God
“The Seed That Must Be Emptied”
A farmer once held up a barley seed and said, “Before this can grow, it has to empty itself.”
When planted, the seed breaks open—empties itself—so new life can emerge.
Jesus said the same in John 12:24, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.”
The Gentile Court had to be emptied. The Holy of Holies had to be revealed. The tomb had to be empty. And our hearts must be emptied of what cannot satisfy. God empties what must be emptied so He can fill what only He can fill.
