Bible Studies

Who was John Baptist

by Jon Fallows
09/25/16
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Who is John (the) Baptist?

Jon Fallows (2015)

This study attempts to determine just who John (the) Baptist was / is. So, in order to find out, we will start with his tribe, father and mother.

Firstly, we need to establish his tribe. The scripture says he was a ‘certain priest’ which narrows it down a bit. Only a man from the tribe of Levi could be a priest, that is, officiate at the altar and in the temple precinct as a mediator between God and the people.

Facts stated about John: 

Reference  - Fact             

Luke 1:5 - His mother was of the ‘daughters of Aaron’. 

Luke 1:5 - His father was a Priest             

Luke 1:5 - His father was a ‘certain’ Priest (specific)       

Luke 1:6 - They were righteous before God        

Luke 1:7 - They had no child (teknon G5043 – newborn or child)               

Luke 1:7 - They were ‘well stricken in years’. See note 1              

Luke 1:9 - His ‘lot’ was to burn incense. See Note 2         

Note 1:          The service of an ordinary priest was from 30 years to fifty years (Numbers 4:3). At 50, a priest had to leave the altar service. However, Zacharias was older than 50, thus stated to be ‘well stricken in years’. Given that a Biblical prophetic ‘generation’ is 70 years; it is probable that the average lifespan was in the order of 70 years. Some sources say as few as 40, however, this is in dispute. Zacharias was still ministering, past the age of 50 years; else the Word would not have made this mention.

Note 2:          The only person who could burn incense in the temple was the High Priest. (Ex 30:1-8). As the Golden Altar was inside the Holy of Holies (See other study, “Golden Altar”, addendum to this study), the High Priest could go into this place and he went in twice daily, 9am and 3pm to keep the incense burning before the Ark of the Covenant.

I am aware of what the extant theology of today says about going into the Holy of Holies, but the modern understanding does not stand Biblical scrutiny, hence the study on the “Golden Altar”. The Golden Altar was right in front of the Ark (physically and spiritually before God). The Golden Altar is a representation of all who have ever lived and the incense represents the prayers of the saints (all men). See the addendum attached. 

John had ‘disciples’ (Mat 9:14). This means that he was a legally ordained priest and had his own ‘yoke’. How? Well, in Hebrew thought, only a priest could have disciples and only special priests who could have their own interpretation of the scripture, called a yoke (See Shane Willard, Authority of the Rabbi). When a child showed promise in understanding of the scriptures, the priest would say “follow me”. And the boy would follow the priest as his disciple. John had disciples, so he was a clearly a legally ordained priest, as was his father Zacharias.

It is clear from these few verses, that Zechariah was the legal high priest at the time when John was born, as Luke 1:11 says he was standing before the Golden Altar (Altar of Incense) when the Angel spoke to him. We are not told when Zacharias died, but, at the beginning of Jesus ministry, John was already officiating in the office of priest, although not in the Temple (no record because of the Roman political appointees ‘fulfilling’ that post).

Legality:         During the time of the Roman occupation of (what we call) Palestine, the High Priests were political appointees of Rome. This is clear from John 11:49 and 51 that the Roman appointments were only for a year. The office of the High Priest from a Biblical legal point of view, was hereditary, therefore for life. See the life of Eli and his age when he died (1 Sam 4:18). He had ‘judged’ Israel 40 years, so he had been 40 years in the office of High Priest. The ‘normal’ priest could only serve 20 years maximum. 

From a legal (God’s legal) standpoint, after Zacharias died, John would have automatically become the legal (in God’s eyes) High Priest.  

Jesus was of the tribe of Judah, and so could not become a Levitical priest (Heb 7:14) as His first advent was to do two things:

• Assume the Sceptre (right of the King), Tribe of Judah (Gen 49:10), this was by birth.


• Become the Great High Priest, under a different order

In His second coming, He assumes (takes back), the birthright from Esau as it has been given to him (his descendants) since the formation of the state we wrongly call “Israel” today. This is another study and is concerning the holding of the birthright since it was taken from Esau by deceit (See Secrets of Time, Dr Stephen Jones).

The question is: How did he become the Great High Priest? 

It had to be a legal process because God NEVER does anything except by His law. Most say the Law has been done away with, but the words of Jesus Himself say something totally opposite. In Mat 5:18, He personally states that the Law stands, ‘until all be fulfilled’. In addition, God cannot righteously judge anyone if there is no law (Rom 3:20) 

So, what was the legal process? 

Given that John was the (in God’s eyes) legal high priest, Jesus went to him in Jordan when he was 30 years old (Luke 3:23). So Jesus was fulfilling the law of Numbers 4 regarding the entrance to the priesthood.  

What was accomplished in Jordan by John and Jesus?

• The Bar Mitzvah. The ‘showing to Israel’. Also spoken of for John (Luke 1:80)


• His ‘washing’ (we call it baptism)


• The transfer of the High Priest’s office (He must increase, I must decrease)


• The revealing of God on earth (Jesus is the full expression of the Great God – Col 2:9) 

The Bar Mitzvah: 

This ceremony has several important characteristics: 

• It was not ‘law’. It is custom. Custom is partly prescribed by law, but the Bar Mitzvah is not.


• It was only done by a father for his son when the father thought it prudent (no specific age, even in custom)


• There was a specific manner prescribed in custom involving the words “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased”. This is the most obvious and dead giveaway that this ‘washing’ was his Bar Mitzvah


• It was specifically for ‘showing to Israel’. Prior to this Jesus was relatively unknown. After this, He caused some major issues against the establishment. 

His ‘washing’: 

• The washing was the very first thing done when a person was being invested into the priesthood (Lev 8:6). This is the same for us. Our investiture into the priesthood is by the same method. It is the only legal way. So Jesus and John were fulfilling the law of Lev 8:6, as Jesus clearly stated when He said, they were fulfilling all righteousness (keeping the law, Mat 3:15)


• God waited until Jesus was 30 before His Bar Mitzvah simply because it was also His investiture into the priesthood. He was destined to become the High Priest of a new order (Heb 11:7). This is part of the Hebrew custom of a man growing from a child (teknon – newborn) to a mature man (Uihos G5207 – mature son – Jesus is always referred to as Uihos). Under Hebrew custom, a man became a ‘man absolute’ at age 30, married or not. This is the time when He was no longer subject by law or custom to his parents, but could ‘operate’ as a man separately. So here, God was also saying that ‘you have been trained well and I am pleased with you and your progress. Now, go and represent Me to the world’.


• He had no reason to be ‘baptised’ as we are, simply because He was THE sinless sacrifice, but He followed the law of ‘washings’ in order to become and to validate the new priesthood. 

Transfer of the High Priesthood: 

• As John was the legal High Priest, He was the one that God called who could legally officiate at the investiture of a priest. This is why Jesus insisted when John protested (Mat 3:14).


• When he came up out of the water, the spirit descended and the voice came from heaven (as mentioned).


• John was beheaded not long after. Beheading in scriptural language indicates the complete end of something. As the legal Aaronic High Priest, John had his head severed, indicating the complete end of both the Aaronic and Levitical priesthoods. When John died, Jesus was the only legal (in God’s eyes) priest on the planet. All other priestly offices became invalid (Heb 7:12). The change of the law mentioned in Hebrews 7:12 is simply a change in administration (execution) of it.


• As Jesus was the only legal priest on earth after John’s death, He had to initiate the new priesthood and initiate others into it. This started with the foot washing mentioned in John 1:5. The foot washing ceremony he performed for His disciples just prior to His crucifixion was the beginning of their investiture which was completed for the 12 in the upper room. That is one reason why there were only 12 in the upper room, not 120 as commonly assumed. The 12 in attendance can be easily proven with a simple study of Acts (the main subject of Acts).


• After Jesus was baptised in Jordan, John’s ministry waned and was soon finished. As he said himself, I must decrease and He must increase (John 3:30)


• Jesus came up out of the water as High Priest, King, the complete expression of God, and Lord. 

From a legal standpoint, the person who baptised Jesus had to be the legal High Priest as it all would have been pointless and illegal otherwise. So God has (partly) hidden these things in order that we may search them out and see that God work all things together for the good of all. 

The outcome of the apparently simple baptism in Jordan is quite universal in its scope. Without this happening, nothing else could have happened for us. 

Jesus also said in Luke 7:28, that there was no prophet greater than John. God considered him to be the greatest of prophets, and so should we. He was the pivotal player in the establishment of the Melchizedek Priest.  The High Priest of the Melchizedek priesthood is also hereditary, but He won’t die, so, it will always be on His shoulders.

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Addendum: The Golden Altar  

What was the position of the Altar of Incense?

Jon Fallows, Dec 2012 

Collectively, we have been taught that the Altar of Incense was positioned within the court of the Priests, that is, in the same room where the Table of Showbread and the Golden Candlestick was. The only reasoning for this assertion that I can see seems to be based on a statement made by Paul in Hebrews 9:7, where it says, “But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people”. The points that I assume their beliefs are based on are: 

• The use of the word “second” – ‘but into the second’, and


• The text says, “the high priest alone, once every year, not without blood”

The text here seems to indicate that the High Priest could only go into the “second” (Holy of Holies) once a year, and then with blood. In Exodus 30:10, the instruction is to “make atonement upon the horns of it, once a year with the blood of the Sin offering”.

I propose that Paul is referring to this law on the day of atonement specifically, which was the only day that the High Priest was to take blood in, for the purpose of “making atonement” for himself and the errors of the people, a type of the vicarious sacrifice of Jesus, presenting His blood before the Throne of Grace in heaven. 

In this study we shall attempt to show (not prove) that this little altar was indeed inside the Holy of Holies and that the High Priest went into this place twice a day to offer incense, and also went in on the Day of Atonement with blood (as the law states). It seems also that an officiating priest could also go in and anoint the horns of the Altar of Incense when attending to a sin offering where another priest had sinned. 

What was this little Altar? 

The description of the Altar is given in Exodus 30:1-7 and Exodus 37:25 and its purpose was for the burning of  incense before the Lord, or before the Ark of the Testament. Incense represents prayer (Rev 8:3) throughout the scripture and is clearly stated so in Rev 8:3. It seems then that the incense, which was to be burned twice a day by the High Priest represented prayers that come up before God on a continuous basis from all the people. 

Position of the Altar: 

Scriptures that indicate its position:  

(Exo 40:5)         And thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the hanging of the door to the tabernacle. Before the ark of the Testimony

(Lev 16:12)       And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail: Within the Vail

(Lev 16:13)       And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not: The cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat

(Exo 40:26)       And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation before the vail: Before the Vail

Exo 40:5            And thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the hanging of the door to the tabernacle: Before the Ark of the testimony

Exo 40:22          And he put the table in the tent of the congregation, upon the side of the tabernacle northward, without the veil.

Exo 40:26          And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation before the veil: Table – without the vail, Altar – within the vail

Heb 9:3             And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;

Heb 9:4             Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;

After the second veil (in the holiest of all), which had the Golden Censer

If we accept that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word is established, then these seven references seem to be more than enough to establish without question, that the Golden Altar of Incense was within the Holy of Holies. However, let’s look closer. 

Without the Vail, Before the Vail: 

Note that the Table in Exo 40:22 was placed “without the vail” (H4480, H2351), but the Golden Altar in 40:26, was placed “before the vail” (H6440). These show two different positions. The Hebrew words are: 

Vail:   po-reh'-keth, Feminine active participle of the same as H6531; a separatrix, that is, (the sacred) screen: - vail. 

Without the Vail:

H4480: For H4482; properly a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses: - above, after, among, at, because of, by (reason of), from (among), in, X neither, X nor, (out) of, over, since, X then, through, X whether, with. 

H2351: (Both forms feminine in the plural); from an unused root meaning to sever; properly separate by a wall, that is, outside, outdoors: - abroad, field, forth, highway, more, out (-side, -ward), street, without. 

From the (Strong’s) meanings of these words, we can get the idea that this means outside (part, separated by a wall, outside) 

Before the Vail 

H6440: Plural (but always used as a singular) of an unused noun (פּנה pâneh, paw-neh'; from 6437); the face (as the part that turns). From this we get the idea “before the face”.

The Scripture also indicates where “before the veil” actually is. In Exodus 30:6, the Scripture clearly states, “And thou shalt put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee”. So from this, we know that the Golden Altar was in the same room as the Ark of the Covenant and ‘faced’ it.

The Mention in the Law (Leviticus 4:7, and V17-18) 

In Leviticus 4, the commandment is dealing with the case of a priest sinning and therefore making and offering of a young bullock. It is clear then that another priest must officiate and perform the ceremony. 

Lev 4:7  And the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation; and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Lev 4:17 And the priest shall dip his finger in some of the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, even before the vail.

Lev 4:18  And he shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar which is before the LORD, that is in the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation 

So it seems that an ‘ordinary’ priest must ‘put some blood on the horns of the Altar of sweet incense’, therefore go into the Holy of Holies. 

It has been my contention for years that the Golden Altar was in the Holy of Holies and that 1) the High Priest went in twice a day to burn incense and 2) that the Priest officiating for in the case of a priest who had sinned went in to ‘anoint’ the horns of the Altar with blood during the process of atonement for this sin, This could happen anytime. 

The Position of the Altar from Hebrews 

The writer of Hebrews (Paul) also states the following: 

Heb 9:1           Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.

Heb 9:2            For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.

Heb 9:3           And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;

Heb 9:4           Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;

Heb 9:5           And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. 

This is just a few verses before the reference above (9:7) and clearly states, “After the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, which had the Golden Censer (G2369, The Altar of Incense), and the Ark of the Covenant…” 

This clearly indicates it was inside the Holy of Holies. 

The Purpose of the Golden Altar. 

Exodus 30:8 indicates that the incense was to be burned, a perpetual incense, before the Load. If there was a separating veil between it and the Ark, the incense could not come up continually “before the Lord”.

These two places in Exodus indicate clearly that the Golden Altar of Incense was within the Holy of Holies and faced the Mercy Seat (The cover over the ‘box’ of the Ark of the Covenant). 

Exodus says that the High Priest was “to burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. (v8) And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations”.

So it also seems that the High Priest was to go into the Holy of Holies twice a day to burn incense “before the Lord”. This incense was very special and was to be perpetually burned on this altar. The ingredients were called ‘sweet spices’ and collectively typified healing. See Endnote 1

The common teaching of the church is that no one went into the Holy of Holies except for the High Priest just once per year. This seems strange to me as this is where He met with and gave Moses instruction and also the High Priest burnt Incense twice a day until the temple was destroyed by Titus. God has always been interested in having a close relationship with His people. He invited all the people to hear His voice at Sinai, but they ‘removed’ (were afraid, Ex 20:18), so because they would not hear God for themselves (grave mistake), they were excluded for a time. Moses however, did go into the ‘thick darkness’ (Ex 20:19) where He talked directly with God (Now that’s revelation!!). God has always wanted a close relationship with man from the beginning (as He had with Adam), and so He set up the Tabernacle of Moses as an Earthly copy of the heavenly (Rev 8:3) and the Golden Altar, representing the people and their prayers in His presence is the Earthly type of the heavenly reality. 

It is also a type of Jesus Christ today being our ‘intercessor’ as mentioned in Romans 8:34. The Great High Priest is now performing the ‘temple service’ because, “….he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them”. (Heb 7:25).

Another reason for the Golden Altar being in the Holy of Holies is that God is not a separatist, that is, he is not one who stands off. He wants communion with (all) men. 

The Altar in use. 

When the Tabernacle worship was established and in daily use, the Book of Leviticus gives us an indication of the process; 

Lev 16:12       And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil:

Lev 16:13       And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:

So here we have perhaps the clearest indication that the Golden Altar was in the Holy of Holies, because the cloud of incense was intended to cover the mercy seat. If it were on the outside of the veil, the incense cloud would have been physically restricted from the Holy of Holies by the Veil. Here, the High Priest MUST burn the incense so that the smoke cloud would cover the mercy seat. 

His life depended on it, it seems, as the part of the sentence that says “that he die not”. This could also be taken in the opposite vein, for example, if the High Priest did not perform this commandment, he exposed himself to a death sentence. It was not because he was in the Holy of Holies that was the death sentence, but that he made himself liable to die if he did not perform this commandment (as we all do in other ways). The way we read these Biblical statements are from a western mindset, which may be quite different from God’s intent.

The Altar in Revelation

As is usual in the Scripture, there is a type and there is a perfection, a fore runner and a culmination. In Revelation 8:3, there is a clear description given of the same altar, except this one is in God’s Throne Room. 

Rev 8:3            And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

Rev 8:4            And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. 

So here is the Throne Room, the real Golden Altar, upon which incense is offered before God. There is no veil here. This word “before” in Greek is G1799 and, like the Hebrew means, “in the face of (literally or figuratively): - before, in the presence (sight) of”. 

Here is further indication that the Golden Altar was inside the “Holy of Holies” as the real one is ‘before’ God (in his sight).

The Prophetic meaning of the Golden Altar 

As with all things, even the individual laws of God, there is a prophetic intention for this small piece of furniture. Until more revelation is given, I presently understand that this small altar represents all people who have ever lived, and there is room in God and His purposes for all men. It also seems that God wants all people to continually pray (incense going up continually before Him) as this is clearly His instruction in both 1Thess 5:17 and 1 Tim 2:8 to pray without ceasing (continually), or be in an attitude and lifestyle of continual connection with the Throne of Grace. 

Why does the position of the Golden Altar matter? 

Many scriptures tell us that God wants a close relationship with every man. We call Him Father, Jesus called Him Father, and His purpose is to bring many sons to glory (Heb 2:10), and we are to become co-heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17) into the family of God. 

Right from the beginning God was progressively revealing Himself to man right up to the ultimate revelation of Himself in Jesus Christ who is the image of God (1 Cor 11:7, 2 Cor 3:18, 2 Cor 4:4, Col 1:15, etc). If we are to become co-heirs, so also will we become in His likeness. Currently we are only in His image (Gen 1:27). During our lives and at the resurrection, we will be made into His likeness, that’s the goal and the fulfilment of the Gen 1:26. 

So, if this is the heart of God, then it makes sense that He would want all men to be close to Him. While the Tabernacle in the Wilderness was a type of the heavenly, the true tabernacle in heaven has no veil, and His heart is to show the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us through Jesus Christ (Eph 2:7).

The prayers of the saints were (in type) to come up before Him in the smoke of the incense. If it was outside the veil, the smoke would be in the court of the priests, but inside, God wanted to ‘smell the fragrance’ (hear the prayers), so He could act upon them according to His will (1 Thess 5:17). 

It also reveals that the plan of redemption is for all men. In God, there is no respect of persons (Acts 10:34) and He will have all men saved in due course (1 Tim 4:10, Romans 5:18, 1 Cor 15:22 , Rom 11:32, John 12:32) and all will stand before the Lord, as He says that every knee will bow and every tongue confess (Rom 11:14). Given what is stated in 1 John 1:9, God is bound by His own word to forgive and redeem. 

In this tiny Altar is also a statement of the law which we know is good (Psa 19:7 and Rom 7:12) where a law of a restitution is mentioned (Ex 21:33). This law says that if a pit is dug and you fail to fence it, and an ox (a type of a man) falls in, then you are liable and must redeem. God did this in the garden when He did not fence the tree, so when Adam ate, He (God) became liable to redeem. 

In addition, there is a caveat on the law in the year of release (every 7^th year) and the Jubilee, the year after the end of 7 cycles of release years – the 50^th year (Lev 25:10) where all debts are forgiven (sin is accounted as debt). If there is this caveat on the law, then God who wrote it will not go back on it. 

All of this shows God’s love for His creation (man), and His heart to redeem and forgive in every case. In recent church history, we have been taught a doctrine that does not represent God properly in any way, that of ‘eternal punishment’ if we don’t capitulate and say the ‘sinners prayer’. Is this not ‘conversion’ by fear? That is the last thing God wants as His heart is kind and redemptive, as stated above. The scripture says that WHILE we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (all). Now that is love (Rom 5:7-8).   

Conclusion

This altar was relatively small, only 2 cubits high and one cubit square. I have often likened this altar to the science fiction Dr Who’s Tardis which was small on the outside, but large (immense) on the inside. So is this altar simply because of the fact that it was small on the outside, but, because the incense went up before the Ark (prayers go up before God), it is like saying that there is space within it for every person, for the destiny of all men is to stand in His presence.

So this little piece of furniture had a great purpose before God, was in His sight continually (as we all are) and had pride of place right in front of the Ark of the Covenant. Consider this: 

• It was inside the Holy of Holies (a picture of the perfect reign of Christ 10X10X10 cubits = 1000 cubits = 1000 years)


• It was made of wood (of the Earth, as we are made of the Earth)


• It was overlaid with pure beaten gold (gold = divinity and was beaten, moulded into shape as we are)


• It was continually before the sight of God (as we all are)


• It was a type of continual communication with God (we can hear God’s voice today as well)


• It was ‘atoned’ for on the Day of Atonement (the Christian is covered by the Blood of Christ which is our atonement)


• The High Priest went in once (a year) with blood to make atonement. Christ went to the cross once to offer His own blood (Heb 7:27 and Rom 6:10).

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For further reading, see The Tabernacle of Moses, Kevin J Connor, ISBN 0 949829 03 X 

Note: On Page 49 of this excellent study, Mr Connor states that the Golden Altar was separated by the Veil from the Ark. The Scripture clearly indicates otherwise as per the article above.

The Mercy seat (inside the Holy of Holies) was also the place where God spoke to Moses. See; 

Exo 25:21.      And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.

Exo 25:22.      And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

Endnote 1         These ingredients are a study in themselves, which I encourage you to do. For each of the ingredients, please see:

“stacte” at http://incensemaking.com/monographs/stacte.htm

                         “onycha at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onycha

                         “galbanum” at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galbanum

                         “frankincense” at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankincense

                         And ‘salt’ – the same as we have today, a seasoning and a preservative. 

Note: The story of the rope around the leg of the High Priest when inside the Holy of Holies is a fable, not mentioned at all in scripture and seems to have originated after the temple was destroyed. This supposed rope would have been a violation of the law (Lev 16:3-4). Also, there is no record of a High Priest dying in the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies was NOT a place of isolation, it was just a Holy place. 

See: 

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/anklerope.html

http://www.gotquestions.org/high-priest-rope.html

http://blog.bibleplaces.com/2009/01/that-rope-around-high-priests-ankle.html