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The Veil
Exodus 26:31-33
A new and living way, consecrated for us,
through the veil, that is to say, his flesh (Heb.
10:20).
THE details given are brief but important. The
Veil was located at the western end of the Holy
Place and separated the Holy from the Most Holy
Place beyond, so that it was behind the golden
Incense Altar It was suspended upon four
gold-covered shittim wood pillars that have already
been explained. Gold hooks were used to fasten it
to these pillars and it was located immediately
below the join in the coverings of the Mishkan,
where the two sets of curtains were connected by
gold taches (Exod. 26:3-6).
The Veil itself was a thing of impressive
beauty. Made of the same materials as the Mishkan
coverings and the entrance curtains to both the
Tabernacle and the Sanctuary, it was resplendent in
its blue, purple, scarlet and white colors (Exod.
26:31). But the white fine twined linen, which was
beautifully interwoven by the embroiderer with the
blue, purple and scarlet colours, now included the
intricate weaving of cherubim (v.31).
The cherubim included the four faces (man, lion,
ox and eagle) that represented the four sides of
the wilderness encampment which have already been
described. But, more than that fact, they also
portrayed certain characteristics and functions.
These were significantly placed within the Most
Holy Place at the location at which the priest
would arrive after performing the prescribed
services of that Place.
It is suggested that the embroiderers wove each
cherubim in such a manner that the curiously
wrought work of art and beauty was to be seen on
both sides of the Veil, so that they looked out
upon the Holy Place and also upon the Most Holy
Place. Thus the Shewbread was known as the "Bread
of the faces" (Exod 25.30).
A Screen Hiding the Most Holy
So the Veil hung as the screen that hid from
view the contents of the Most Holy Place. "Veil" in
Hebrew, Poreketh, is in the feminine gender,
meaning a separatrix (Dr. Strong) from the root
Perek, meaning to break apart etc. Thus the Veil
and Cherubim guarded and kept the way of life in
much the same way as did the Cherubim in the Garden
of Eden (Gen. 3:24).
But on the Day of Atonement it was lifted aside
for the purpose of permitting the High Priest to
enter the Most Holy, there to perform the
representative task of sprinkling the sacrificial
blood upon the Mercy Seat (Lev. 16:11-14; cp. Heb.
9:3-7). In performing this act it should be
observed that the Altar of Incense was within the
Most Holy (Heb. 9:3,4)-not that he had moved the
Altar but rather that he would have caused the Veil
to be draped on the Holy Place side of the Altar,
thus including it in the Most Holy to facilitate
the action described in Lev. 16:12,13.
The Significance Of the Veil
We need be in no doubt as to what the Veil
represents. Paul interprets its meaning in Heb.
10:20. His interpretation is supported by the
rending of the Temple Veil at the time of Atoning
Sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 27:51).
The Veil, then, stands for the flesh of present
mortal nature such as was possessed by the Lord in
his natural days on earth. lt is this nature which
stands between our present Ecclesial wanderings of
these mortal days, and the significant glories of
the future "Most Holy Place" state.
But Jesus was the dwelling place of his Father
(John. 1:14), and he dedicated himself "as a living
sacrifice" to the manifestation of his Father's
character and truth (Heb. 10:20). Thus the colors
of the veil, in an anti-typical way, were seen in
the life and character of the Lord. The four Gospel
writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, fulfilling a
function as counterpart of the four pillars which
upheld and manifested the Tabernacle Veil, recorded
and displayed the righteous (white) character of
him who, in the days of his flesh (scarlet)
manifested (purple) Yahweh (blue) to the people.
Wrought into that character, and therefore
clearly displayed in his life, was to be seen the
Divine Character (Heb. 1:3,4), that stood between
Yahweh and His Israel-Ecclesia.
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