ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 27 - Exodus 26-27 (The Veil That Separated the Holy God from Sinful Man)
"You shall make a veil woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen. It shall be woven with an artistic design of cherubim. You shall hang it upon the four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold. Their hooks shall be gold, upon four sockets of silver. And you shall hang the veil from the clasps. Then you shall bring the ark of the Testimony in there, behind the veil. The veil shall be a divider for you between the holy place and the Most Holy. You shall put the mercy seat upon the ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy.” (Exodus 26:31-34)
When God instructed Moses to construct a tabernacle or tent for Him to dwell among the people, He told Moses to make a veil which shall separate Ark of the Covenant upon which God would sit and dwell with the Israelites. The veil signified the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man. Sinful man cannot approach God unless God first consecrates (set apart as holy) him. “Only the high priest was permitted to pass beyond this veil once each year (Exodus 30:10;Hebrews 9:7) to enter into God's presence for all of Israel and make atonement for their sins (Lev 16).” (http://www.gotquestions.org/temple-veil-torn.html) Consecration always involved forgiveness of sins “and according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” (Hebrews 9:22)
When Jesus walked this earth, instead of a tabernacle there was the temple built by Herod. We read, “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom;...” (Matthew 27:50-51a) Josephus, the renowned Jewish historian describes that veilas being 60 feet high and four inches think and that horse tied to each side could not pull the veil apart.
The tearing of the veil of the temple implies what is perhaps the most important truth in all of Scripture, that is, that the way is now open for sinful man to permanently approach God through the shed blood of Christ on the cross and through His ministry to all believers as their High Priest. As Scripture says:
“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:19-22)
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