Key Verse: "Hang the curtain from the
clasps and place the Ark of the Testimony behind the curtain. The curtain will
separate the holy place from the most Holy place."
Exodus 26:33
Over and over again, God exhorted His people
to, "Be Holy for I am Holy." (Lev. 20:26). Why? Because, as much as
He loved us, He could not dwell with us. His Holiness could not draw near
our sin and unholiness. Even in the sanctuary, the place where God and man
could draw closer than at any other place, God still had to reserve a place for
Himself where man was not allowed.
God instructed Moses to hang a curtain at one
end of the tabernacle. Behind the curtain the Ark was placed, topped by the
mercy seat. The Ark represented God's presence. The mercy seat which covered
the Ark is where God would meet with one priest, once a year, only after he had
been thoroughly cleansed and purified according to God's specifications.
Once a year, the priest would enter to atone
for man's sin. While it was atoned for, however, the meeting would have to take
place again the next year for sin. The sin was never really erased, but paid
for through the blood of the sacrificed animals.
I don't think that we take enough time today
to contemplate just how grievous our sin is. We love the fact that we can just
talk to God any time we wish, but it was not always that way. Before Jesus,
this was the only way to pay for our sin and dare to approach God. People prayed to God and worshiped him regularly,
even out in the fields, as when David composed songs of praise in his
psalms. But that worship was always with
hope that God would hear, rather than
assurance of our welcome in his presence.
At Jesus’ death, however, all that changed.
Jesus had said the night before, to His disciples, that the cup of redemption
was now a new covenant in His blood. Now, not only was the covenant new, but at
His death, our approach to God became new as well.
Paul reminds us of a personal curtain, or
veil, that blinds us to the truth until it is removed by God. "To this day
the veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed,
because only in Christ is it taken away." (2 Cor. 3:14B) "Whenever
anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away." 2 Cor. 3:16) The veil
prevented the Jews from recognizing Jesus, just as it keeps people from
recognizing Him today.
God tore the curtain in two, as one may tear
up a mortgage when it is "Paid in full." The writer of Hebrews says,
"We have confidence to enter the most Holy place by the blood of Jesus, by
a new living way opened for us through the curtain, that is His body." (Heb.
10:19-20 adapted) His blood of His new covenant atones for us and makes the way
for us to approach God through Jesus Himself. He is the new curtain. Instead of
a wall that separates us from God's Holiness, Jesus is a curtain that acts as a
bridge that allows us to draw near.
In our own sinfulness, we are still unworthy.
The veil is still in place. We are born with the veil upon our face. Jesus
makes all the difference in whether we can approach or not, in whether we can
see or not. Jesus Himself said, "I am the way and the truth and the life,
no one comes to the Father except through Me." (John
14:6) For those who do not believe, the curtain still hangs, but for those
of us who know Him, we know that that curtain is really the door to His Holy of
Holies. We know that the veil is not permanent, but removed by His grace.
Hymn: "Thou Art the Way: To Thee Alone”
:Song: "Jesus
Messiah" by Chris Tomlin
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