Veil / Curtain
Veils and curtains take many forms. A woman in white waits with anticipation to reveal her glory to her husband. A woman in black hides her tears behind her veil as she mourns the passing of her lover. Veils are the walls we put up to separate one thing from another, and we often find them at the extremes of life. A prison, for example, is a set of walls that keeps bad people in. Gated communities use a fence to keep the rough neighborhood out. We hide important things behind walls, veils, and curtains, and we carefully give certain people access to what’s inside, while keeping other people out. This is what makes the message of Jesus so radical; he tore down the curtain that separated us from God.
Veils can be metaphors for the emotional masks that keep others from seeing what we are thinking or feeling.
Veils of Separation
The veil and the curtain appear frequently in both the Old and New Testaments. In the book of Exodus, Moses met with God in the Tent of Meeting. After meeting with God, his face radiated. What that looked like is difficult to imagine, but even today such a sight would be terrifying. Moses covered his face with a veil so the Israelites wouldn’t be afraid (Exod. 34:33).
Song of Solomon gives another reference to a veil. In the fourth chapter a young woman, who is to be married to her lover, is veiled (vv. 1, 3). Through her veil we see rosy, pomegranate-like temples; her face is alluring behind the simple barrier. She is set apart, much like the Jewish temple sets apart a dwelling place for God.
The books of Leviticus and Hebrews describe tabernacle structure that was replicated in the temple in Jerusalem. The original temple of the Lord had a holy place that enclosed a most holy place. The two were separated by a heavy curtain or veil used to set apart the dwelling place of God. Only the high priest was permitted past this barrier, and in order to enter the most holy place, he had to offer a blood sacrifice for his sins and the sins of others.
But only the chief priest went into the second part of the tent. Once a year he entered and brought blood that he offered for himself and for the things that the people did wrong unintentionally. The Holy Spirit used this to show that the way into the most holy place was not open while the tent was still in use. (Heb. 9:7–8)
The curtain was a symbol of God’s otherness and holiness. It served not as a covering and protection for his presence but as a wall of safety for those anywhere near the Holy of Holies. God wasn’t hiding behind a curtain; he was ensuring his holy presence didn’t destroy those approaching to worship.
The Veil Torn
The centuries of priestly atonement behind the curtain in the tabernacle and temple turned out to be the sign for one final great act of priestly work done by Jesus on the cross. At the moment of Jesus’ death, this curtain was torn from top to bottom, making visible and accessible the most holy place of the temple and signaling an end to the old system. Jesus, through his death and perfect blood sacrifice, removed the veil that separated the most holy of places from all of humanity as a symbol that all people now had accessibility to God. The physical separation between God’s presence and God’s people, and the work of the human high priest to mediate between the two, were now unnecessary.
The curtain in the temple separated the people from God’s presence, but Jesus’ death tore the curtain and gave us full access to God.
Through Jesus’ death, the veil that Moses wore was also no longer needed. Using the veil of Moses as a symbol for spiritual understanding, Paul assures us that because of Christ’s death we all have access to the Holy Spirit’s illumination:
We are not like Moses. He kept covering his face with a veil. He didn’t want the people of Israel to see the glory fading away. However, their minds became closed. In fact, to this day the same veil is still there when they read the Old Testament. It isn’t removed, because only Christ can remove it. Yet, even today, when they read the books of Moses, a veil covers their minds. But whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. (2 Cor. 3:13–16)
We find veils at funerals and weddings, occasions that commemorate death and life. Amazingly, here at the cross—at the intersection of death and life—Jesus tore down the veil that separated the two. Jesus makes funerals more like wedding celebrations, where the veil separating the groom and the bride is taken away. Christ willingly offered his life as a blood sacrifice for all people so that the barrier between us and heaven would be removed.
Key Verse
As all of us reflect the Lord’s glory with faces that are not covered with veils, we are being changed into his image with ever-increasing glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:18)