Yom Kippur in the Temple

The celebration of Yom Kippur was very different during the time of the Beit Hamikdash. There was a situation of the convergence of the holiest day of the year, in the holiest land in the world, in the holiest city, to the holiest building, and the holiest person, the Kohein Hagadol.
The peak of the day came when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies, only on Yom Kippur. The intense level of holiness influenced the entire nation.
The real focus of the day was on the Kohein Hagadol. He went through a week of preparation for this great day. Most of the Temple service was done by him.
Possibly the most impressive moments of the day were when the entire congregation witnessed the Kohein Hagadol doing his confessions. He confessed for himself and his family, and the remainder of the Kohanim, and the rest of the Jewish people.
What made the confession so special was hearing the High Priest utter the holiest name of Hashem in absolute purity. When the congregation heard this, they were so moved that they spontaneously fell on their faces because of this high level of holiness.
We read this description in the Musaf service of Yom Kippur. This is called the Avoda service. We bow four times as we describe all that went on in the Beit Hamikdash.
We should make an effort to pay closer attention to this very moving description of the Beit Hamikdash. May we soon see the rebuilding of the Third Temple, speedily in our time.