“And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;” (Matthew 27:51)
The veil of the temple was a purple, blue and scarlet screen or curtain that divided the holy place from the most holy place, or the holy of holies where the ark of the covenant was placed. (Exodus 26:31; 40:3) Josephus a Jewish historian writes that the veil was four inches thick.
Only the high priest was permitted to enter the holy of holies and only once a year to make atonement by taking into it the blood of the sin offering. God’s presence would appear in a cloud. The high priest entering followed strict rituals to enter or die because God is so holy, the high priest could die in His presence. (Leviticus 16:2; Exodus 28) Sinful man was separated from God. The veil kept man from dying when His presence appeared.
When Jesus cried out with His last breath and died, the veil tore, from the top to the bottom. This was a supernatural work of God. Nothing and no one could have torn the veil and from the top to the bottom. The veil was so enormous, 60 feet long and 30 feet wide that it took 300 priests to move it (this according to many experts who have studied and calculated all the ancient measurements and converted them to measurements we can understand.)
When the veil tore, the ark of the covenant was exposed. How symbolic is this? God’s glory is now visible to all, for all to see and for all to partake. This separation between God and man was now torn and cast away. The earthly high priest is no longer needed to yearly make atonement with the blood of animals. Jesus made the atonement for the whole world (John 3:16) with His own blood. Through Jesus our eternal divine high priest we can come to God, our Father. “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14-16)
Paul so beautifully and comprehensively details this. Explaining it doesn’t do it justice. It bears reading these 15 verses in Hebrews 9. I urge you to read it several times in many different versions. Its anointed message is an explanation of the torn veil. The following is in the Good News Bible version: “But Christ has already come as the High Priest of the good things that are already here. The tent in which He serves is greater and more perfect; it is not a tent made by human hands, that is, it is not a part of this created world. When Christ went through the tent and entered once and for all into the Most Holy Place, He did not take the blood of goats and bulls to offer as a sacrifice; rather, He took His own blood and obtained eternal salvation for us. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a burnt calf are sprinkled on the people who are ritually unclean, and this purifies them by taking away their ritual impurity. Since this is true, how much more is accomplished by the blood of Christ! Through the eternal Spirit He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to God. His blood will purify our consciences from useless rituals, so that we may serve the living God. For this reason Christ is the one who arranges a new covenant, so that those who have been called by God may receive the eternal blessings that God has promised. This can be done because there has been a death which sets people free from the wrongs they did while the first covenant was in effect. In the case of a will it is necessary to prove that the person who made it has died, for a will means nothing while the person who made it is alive; it goes into effect only after his death. That is why even the first covenant went into effect only with the use of blood. First, Moses proclaimed to the people all the commandments as set forth in the Law. Then he took the blood of bulls and goats, mixed it with water, and sprinkled it on the book of the Law and all the people, using a sprig of hyssop and some red wool. He said, "This is the blood which seals the covenant that God has commanded you to obey." In the same way Moses also sprinkled the blood on the Sacred Tent and over all the things used in worship. Indeed, according to the Law almost everything is purified by blood, and sins are forgiven only if blood is poured out. Those things, which are copies of the heavenly originals, had to be purified in that way. But the heavenly things themselves require much better sacrifices. For Christ did not go into a Holy Place made by human hands, which was a copy of the real one. He went into heaven itself, where He now appears on our behalf in the presence of God. The Jewish high priest goes into the Most Holy Place every year with the blood of an animal. But Christ did not go in to offer Himself many times, for then He would have had to suffer many times ever since the creation of the world. Instead, now when all ages of time are nearing the end, He has appeared once and for all, to remove sin through the sacrifice of Himself.” (Hebrews 9:11-26)
The separation by the veil was torn because it is no longer needed. There’s a new covenant now, a better covenant. “But now hath He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” (Hebrews 8:6) And this was now not only for the Jews but for everyone, and for you and for me.
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