A curtain divided the outer court from the Holy Place on one end, which was accessible by any of the ordinary Levitical priests who were assigned duty in the Holy Place.  On the other end, a Veil -- so thick that oxen could not pull it asunder -- separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies.  In the above view, you are looking from the eastern end of the Holy Place (just inside the curtain that entered from the outer court) toward the Veil that barred access to the Holy of Holies.  Only one man – the High Priest -- was allowed to enter beyond the Veil to the Holy of Holies, and that only once a year on the Day of Atonement. That will be covered as we progress through the Tabernacle.   

However, ministry went on in the Holy Place every day, morning and evening, all year long -- conducted by the ordinary priests, the Levites or sons of Aaron.  The wicks on the lamp (left) had to be trimmed and oil added.  The lamp was kept lit at all times.  The bread for the Table of Shewbread (right) was baked and place on the table; frankincense was added.  Prayer and praise went forth from the Altar of Incense (just in front of the Veil.)  All of these ministrations were carried out by priests, and all of them had to be accompanied by the sprinkling of blood from the morning and evening sacrifices that occurred at the Brazen Altar in the Outer Court. The work was never finished. But it pointed to One Who one day would say, as He hung on a Cross on Calvary's hill, "It is finished!" When Christ uttered those words, that is what He meant.  All the daily sacrifices, all the need for the mediation of a priesthood that could never rest, could never sit down, was finished by His One Time Perfect Sacrifice for sin.

 We are going to study the typology of the priesthood later; but for now, keep in mind always that the Levitical priest was a type of the believer, in that he carried out the ministrations in the Tabernacle for the believer. We do not need priests today; the believer in Christ is himself a priest unto God.