Protestant church buildings of all denominations line our city streets and dot the landscape along our country roads in various shapes and sizes; built with different kinds of building materials--wood, cement blocks, tin and bricks.  There's no one required pattern by which churches must be built.  If it were not for the sign on the door, many times it would be almost impossible to distinguish a church building from any other building.  In fact, many unoccupied store buildings are quickly turned into store-front churches, while the outside of the building isn't changed, except for, maybe, a little paint.

So there's nothing unique about the outside of a church building that would make it a Protestant church.  But the outside of the church building only houses the true Protestant church--the church sanctuary--the true church of the basic doctrine, going to church.  It is the sanctuary which Protestants say is the church, the house of God, a sacred and most holy place of God's spiritual dwelling place on earth among His people.  This is why Protestants believe that the only way that we can worship God, is to go where God is: to the church sanctuary.  But God, the one and only true God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is not in any church sanctuary.  So those who worship in the church sanctuary are bowing down and worshipping a false god.

Protestants get the word "sanctuary" from God's sanctuary in the Old Testament tabernacle, the same place they get the words "altar" and "communion table". This is another example of how Protestants take words and phrases out of the Bible and change the meanings to fit their own false doctrines.

God commanded Moses in Exodus 25:8 to tell the children of Israel to build Him a sanctuary, a tabernacle, according to the pattern that God gave him (Ex. 25:8-10).  This is the same sanctuary that Solomon had the priest move into the temple, according to God's command. The tabernacle was dividend into three main divisions: the holy of holies, the holy place, and the inner court.  The inner vail separated the holy of holies; dividing the sanctuary into 2 separate rooms.  The outer vail separated the holy place from the inner court, which was outside of the building.

In comparison, the sanctuary of the church is divided into three main divisions: the pulpit area, the altar and choir loft area, and the congregation area.  The pulpit area is the most holy place, the holiest place of all.  The altar and choir loft area is the holy place.  And the congregation area is the least holy place of all to be.  A semi-circle altar bannister in front of the elevated pulpit area separates the pulpit area from the altar area, which is at floor level. The pulpit and usually three elegant high-back pulpit chairs fill the pulpit area.  The altar, the communion table, and the piano and/or organ occupy the altar area  Behind the pulpit area, a bannister divides the pulpit area from the choir loft, which sets on the same elevated level as the pulpit area.  In the pulpit area are several ascending rows of pews.  A wide horizontal isle separates the altar area from the church pews or chairs in the congregation area.

Ironically, none of the Israelites, except the high priest and his priest, could enter inside the sanctuary of the tabernacle and the temple.  In fact, if any of the Israelites came near the tabernacle the tabernacle on the sabbath day, God said that they would surely die.  Only the high priest was allowed inside the most holy place of the sanctuary.  And that was only once a year at the Passover Feast.  We don't find a pulpit in the most holy place.  But we do find the word "pulpit" recorded only one time in the entire Bible, in Nehemiah 8:1-4.  The pulpit was a kind of scaffold and was built, not in the rebuilt temple, but out in the street, outside of the watergate.  There is nothing said about its being holy or sacred.  It was used by the priest in order for the multitude of Jews could hear him reading the Law of God.  And we don't find where the pulpit was ever used again.

In the most holy place was the arc of the covenant, covered with the mercy seat.  And just above the mercy seat on the wall rested two cherubims (Ex. 25:10-21). God dwelt spiritually on the earth and met with the high priest between the two cherubims, the holiest place of all (Ex. 25:22).

In the holy place behind the vail was an altar, the golden altar of incense, where the priests burned incense, continually (Ex. 37:25).  This is what the church altar is based on.  There was also a golden candle stick and the table of shewbread; but not a communion table with a large bouquet of flowers placed on top.

Notice, there were no pews or chairs of any kind in the sanctuary to sit on.  Nor did the word "congregation" refer to the people sitting in the congregation area.  There wasn't a congregation area, which was separated from the most holy place and the holy place. Several times when the holy place was spoken of, the word "congregation" was used in the place of the words "holy place.

The brazen altar was located in the inner court, just inside the gate.  Sacrifices of sheep and oxen were made on the brazen altar for burnt offerings for the sins of the Jews, God's people until Jesus came and paid the price for all sins of all people of the whole world.