QUESTION: "Was the cleansing of the sanctuary finished at the end of the twenty-three hundred days? Or is the work of cleansing still going on? If it is still going on, when will it be finished? "W. L. K."
ANSWER: It is very evident from the reading of Daniel 8.13, 14 that the end of the twenty-three hundred (years), the cleansing of the sanctuary was begun, and not then finished. The angels words, "Unto two thousand and three hundred years; then shall the sanctuary cleansed," were in reply to the following questions: "How long shall be the vision concerning the daily, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the post to be trodden underfoot?" The reply showed that the sanctuary and the host were to be trodden underfoot "unto two thousand and three hundred days;" consequently the cleansing began at the close of the days.
The cleansing of the sanctuary is the blotting out of the sins of God's people. When that work is finished, the names of those who have not overcome will have been blotted out of the Lamb's book of life, and that shows that probation ends when the work of cleansing the sanctuary is completed. But the gospel still reaches the hearts of sinners; therefore probation is not ended, and the work of cleansing the sanctuary is still going on. When this work will be finished, no man can tell. We cannot know that it will be soon. To the close of this work the following words apply: "Be ye therefore ready also; for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not."
"Cleansing of the Sanctuary"
Ellet J. Waggoner
The Signs of the Times : May 13, 1886