26 August Exodus 26

Jesus came to remove the veil

Exodus 26: 31-34 (NIV) “Make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, with cherubim woven into it by a skilled worker. Hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold and standing on four silver bases. Hang the curtain from the clasps and place the ark of the covenant law behind the curtain. The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. Put the atonement cover on the ark of the covenant law in the Most Holy Place. Place the table outside the curtain on the north side of the tabernacle and put the lampstand opposite it on the south side”.

The veil’s primary function was to separate the holy place from the holy of holies. This separation is at the heart of the entire priestly code of the sacrificial system, which separates the unclean and the clean. The exception for entering the holy of holies was made only in the context of the Day of Atonement when the high priest would take the offering behind the veil as a sin or purification offering. On the Day of Atonement, Aaron was to use the blood of the sin offering to purify and consecrate the altar. Only a high priest who was ritually pure and without defect could approach God without being put to death in the Holy of Holies.

The death of Jesus caused the curtain to rip from the top to the bottom. Matthew 27:50-52 (NIV) “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.

The blood of Jesus made us clean. Therefore, we can now enter the Holy of Holies every day with confidence to petition in prayer for ourselves and others. Hebrews 9:11-15 (ESV) “But Christ has already come to be the high priest. He is the high priest of the good things we now have. But Christ does not serve in a place like the tent that those other priests served in. He serves in a better place. Unlike that tent, this one is perfect. It was not made by anyone here on earth. It does not belong to this world. Christ entered the Most Holy Place only one time, enough for all time. He entered the Most Holy Place by using his own blood, not the blood of goats or young bulls. He entered there and made us free from sin forever. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a cow were sprinkled on those who were no longer pure enough to enter the place of worship. The blood and ashes made them pure again, but only their bodies. So surely the blood sacrifice of Christ can do much more. Christ offered himself through the eternal Spirit as a perfect sacrifice to God. His blood will make us completely clean from the evil we have done. It will give us clear consciences so that we can worship the living God. So Christ brings a new agreement from God to his people. He brings this agreement so that those who are chosen by God can have the blessings God promised, blessings that last forever. This can happen only because Christ died to free people from sins committed against the commands of the first agreement”.

In Old Testament times, the high priest could only enter the Holy of Holies once per year after making a blood sacrifice to pray for the nation. Any believer in Jesus is also part of His nation of priests. The New Testament confirms this in 1 Peter 2:5 (ERV) “You also are like living stones, and God is using you to build a spiritual house. You are to serve God in this house as holy priests, offering him spiritual sacrifices that he will accept because of Jesus Christ”. Two quotes by Greg Lanier:

“Jesus himself is the new temple—the new Most Holy Place—with no curtain barring us from intimacy with him.”

“On Good Friday, the earthly temple’s curtain tearing as Jesus died was a copy of a heavenly reality, when Jesus went through the curtain above to present his blood in the heavenly sanctuary”.

The heavenly temple is where God's people are meant to go, and it includes all of creation Revelation 21:2–3: (NIV)"I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them”.

Jesus, our king and priest, has already entered this place ahead of us. The temple is God Himself. Revelation 21:22 (NIV) "I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.".

The temple is open to everyone because it is everything.