The Torn Veil, A New and Living Way of Access

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
1789 Iglehart Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104-5215 : Info: Phone (651) 283-0568 : www.dtminc.org

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Today’s Date: July 9, 2006

The Torn Veil, A New and Living Way of Access
by Dan Trygg

"And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. 32 And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, on four bases of silver. 33 And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy. 34 You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place." Ex. 26:31-34

"And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split." Matthew 27:50,51

"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." Hebrews 10:19-25

It would be easy for us to skim past the significance of the rending of the veil in the temple, which took place as Jesus died. Since most of us have not been steeped in an understanding of the OT temple, we do not have a frame of reference to grasp what was happening. Matthew, Mark and Luke all mention this event, however, because it was an extremely powerful testimony of God’s direct response to Christ’s finished work upon the cross. It was a powerful word picture used in early church teaching to demonstrate the effectiveness of Jesus’ death to reconcile humanity to God, and to unite all people into a new brotherhood in Him.

What was this veil? What was it for? In the building of the Tabernacle, God commanded Moses to make a veil or curtain to hang between the Holy Place, where only the priests could go, and the Holy of Holies, where God’s abiding presence was (Ex. 26:31-35). It was made of blue, purple and scarlet material and fine twined linen. It was to be woven together by skilled craftsmen, and was to have the images of cherubim woven into it. Its purpose was to separate the Holy of Holies, where the ark of the covenant and the manifest presence of God were, from the eyes and activity of those in either the Holy Place or from those who were common people outside of the Holy Place. God’s holy presence was to remain undisturbed. Only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies. That was only once a year, on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16). The Tabernacle in the wilderness was a large, elaborate tent compound designed to give a series of buffer zones between this holy God, and the people of Israel, so that the holy presence of God could travel and dwell in the midst of His people (Ex. 25:8).

The veil stood for the unapproachableness of God. He was absolutely holy, pure and righteous. Evil cannot abide in His presence (Psa. 5:4). Those who attempted to approach Him, or the holy objects, without following the proper precautions and instructions of God, perished. On several occasions, fire came out from the sanctuary and consumed them (Lev. 10:1-3; Num. 16:1-7,16-18,35-40; I Sam. 6:19,20; II Sam. 6:1-7).
In the Temple of Jesus’ time, this curtain was intricately woven of seventy-two twisted braids of twenty-four threads each. It was sixty feet long and thirty feet tall. Because of the size, it had to be quite thick to support the weight. (Up to four inches thick, by some accounts.) As you can imagine, a curtain such as this would be very sturdy, and yet have significant ability to flex and give. To rip it in half would take a tremendous force. If it were to tear, you would expect it to tear horizontally, because of the weight, not vertically.

During Jesus’ crucifixion, darkness came over the land, as He was bearing the sin of the world. As He finished His sin-bearing work, when He cried out and gave up His Spirit to the Father, the veil in the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom (Matt. 27:51; Mk. 15:38; Lk. 23:45). Both Josephus (War VI. 299), a Jewish historian of the first century, and the Jewish Talmud (Mishna, Mid. ii. 1; iv.7), a collection of rabbinical teachings, mention an earthquake in the Temple. The Talmud even says that this occurred 40 years before the destruction of the Temple, which would have been the same time as Jesus’ death. It does not say what damage was done, but hints at some great disaster.

What is the significance of this event? There are two main lessons drawn from this event by the writers of the NT. The first and foremost is that the way into the presence of God has been opened up to us. God Himself tore the veil so that we would see that entrance into the Holy of Holies has been granted to all of us. The Jewish leaders misunderstood this event as a disaster, as a virtual defilement of the Holy of Holies, and hastened to cover up the opening, and repair the curtain. They missed the point. God was indicating that, because of Jesus’ death on our behalf, our sin has been removed. We are now welcome to come into the presence of our Holy God. In Hebrews 4:14-5:10, the author describes how Jesus was designated by God to be a high priest for us. In 6:19,20, the writer mentions how our hope of salvation is like an anchor for our souls, a hope which is safe-and-sure, confirmed-and-reliable, a hope that is entering into the inner place of the veil, where Christ went in as a forerunner on our behalf, becoming a high priest forever. This is a very interesting picture, since the former practice was to tie a rope around the high priest’s ankle, so his body could be pulled out if he perished before the Lord on his annual visit to the Holy of Holies. Here, we have the exact opposite picture. Christ has gone into the Holy of Holies and has planted an anchor there, one which we are tied to. He is called our "forerunner". The reference is to a spy or scout, who would lead the way. He has gone before us to lead us also into this inner place. The rope of promise is not to pull us out of the inner place, but to lead us in.

Jesus’ priestly ministry was not in the earthly Tabernacle or Temple, which were but shadows of the true heavenly dwelling place of God. Now, God was establishing a new and greater covenant than the Israelites had known under Moses (Heb. 9:1-10:18). Instead of making a temporary atonement through animal sacrifices in an earthly sanctuary, Jesus came into the very dwelling place of God in heaven and offered His own blood to cleanse us once and for all. By this act, we have been sanctified and perfected in God’s sight once and for all time (vss. 10,14). There is no additional offering that need be made to be acceptable to God, and to open the way into the inner place behind the veil.

Look at Hebrews 10:19-21. It is very powerful. "Therefore, brothers and sisters, having confidence to enter into the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by a new (lit., freshly-killed) and living path-way inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is of His flesh, and (having) a great priest over the house of God…" Jesus opened up to us another pathway into the very Holy of Holies, a way that was purchased by His death and made sure by His resurrection. The blood of Jesus continues to speak as though it were an eternally present offering (Heb. 12:24), a freshly killed sacrifice. The only way into the presence of the Holy One is by the cleansing blood of Jesus. Note, however, this entrance is not by virtue of a dead sacrifice, but one that was "freshly-killed and yet living". The way in through the curtain is through Christ. He is the Great Priest, who has gone before us into the Holy of Holies, has satisfied the Divine wrath by the payment of His own life, has redeemed us out of condemnation and bondage to sin to live for God (sanctified us), and has perfected us by the power of His resurrection life which dwells within those who have trusted in Him. By the outworking of that new nature, which comes from His resurrection power living in us, all that is corrupt will fall away, when He returns to claim us for Himself, and we will shine like the sun in the power and glory of new life (Matt. 13:43). As the apostle John said, "Whenever He will appear, we will be like Him…" (I Jn. 3:2). Then, we will be able to see Him and dwell with Him. We will be comfortable in His presence, because we will be pure and holy, like Him.

Following the argument in Hebrews 10 a few more verses (22-25), we see that there are three possibilities which open up to us that were not there before Christ. They are translated in English with the phrase "let us", which is meant to convey the excitement of a possibility made available which we, by all means, should make use of. They are not commands, however, but new options which Christ has made available to us. They are:

(1.) We might now draw near to God. We are able to come with sincere hearts, fully assured, knowing that we have been sprinkled clean before God by the blood of Jesus. We are clean inside and out, and can freely enter into God’s presence, …so, let’s go there!

(2.) We might now be holding fast the confession of hope without wavering, because God is faithful. Jesus established and purchased a better covenant, based upon better promises, and a better provision. We don’t have to doubt or be wobbly in our faith. We can be confident that we are acceptable to God in Christ, …so, be strong in faith!

(3.) We might now consider one another for the purpose of sharpening up, stimulating or agitating each other to love and good deeds, not abandoning our gathering together, but encouraging one another, …so, get involved in building one another up! This third point might seem kind of a strange conclusion to draw from the idea of Jesus’ dealing with our sin and bringing us through the veil into the Holy of Holies, but Paul refers to this same notion in Ephesians 2:11-22. Christ not only reconciled us to God, but also to each other. In the Temple in Jerusalem, there was a dividing wall that separated the Gentiles from the Jews. By tearing open the curtain, and bringing people of every race and background directly into the Holy of Holies, God had removed all that divides us from each other. He has, in fact, made us a new people, members of His household. He cut through all the ordinances and religious traditions and brought us all before Daddy’s throne, where we are all on equal footing. He established peace, and gave us all the same access to the Father. Together we are being built into a spiritual house. God dwells in us. The verb in vs. 22 is usually translated passively, but it could also be understood as something we are to be actively doing. "In Him y’all are jointly building yourselves up into a dwelling of God in the Spirit." We do that when we speak the truth to one another in love, each exercising his or her gifts to build up one another (Eph. 4:15,16), stimulating one another to grow.