Tabernacle Truths
The Veil
Exodus 26:31-33
 
After the children of Israel were delivered from Egyptian captivity by Moses, they spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land.
 
During that time, God led them through Moses.  As you may know, it was Moses through whom God gave the Ten Commandments.  But it is often overlooked that God gave a lot of other information when He gave His law, and included in that information were instructions on constructing a structure called the Tabernacle.
 
And primarily, it was a temporary building that could be disassembled and moved.  And even through it was temporary and portable, God was very specific regarding its construction.  In fact, it takes several chapters in the Old Testament to record all the details He provided about how to make, not only the Tabernacle, but all the furnishings and utensils and how they were to be used. 
 
The reason all that information is included is because they are God's Old Testament picture of His Son and His plan of salvation.  And as you walk through this building by way of the Old Testament, you see different facets and details of Who Jesus was and what He did in His life and death and ministry, and you get to see what salvation is all about at the same time.
 
As we've already discovered, the Tabernacle was surrounded by a white linen fence supported by posts that were topped with brass.  There we see a picture of God's holiness and judgment.  Our sin separates us from God. 
 
There was only one entrance through the fence and it pictures Jesus.  He said He was the only way to get to God.  As you entered through the gate,  you were immediately confronted with a large brass altar where sacrifices were offered. 
 
There we see the cross of Christ.  We approach God through Jesus, but only because He became our substitute and gave His life for us.
 
The priests who performed the sacrifices were required to be clean before they could enter the Tabernacle, so between the altar and the Tent was a washbasin called a laver, and there they would wash and prepare to serve God. 
 
The laver is a picture of God's Holy Word.  Through it, we discover God's requirements and we are sanctified, the Bible says, by the washing of the Word.
 
The tabernacle itself was a wooden structure that was covered with gold on the inside and various cloths and skins for a roof.  Inside this gold overlaid building, there were two rooms.  The first room as you entered was the larger of the two.  It was 15' tall and wide and 30' long, and it was called the Holy Place.  As we've seen, inside this room there was a golden lampstand that held seven lamps, a golden table with twelve loaves of bread on top, and a golden altar where incense was continually burning.
The inner room is called the Holy of Holies, or sometimes as the Holiest of All of the Most Holy Place.  It was a perfectly cubed-shaped room, 15' wide, 15' long and 15' high. 
 
This room was the physical dwelling place of God.  He said this entire structure was to be built because He wanted to dwell among His people.  He wanted them to know that He wanted to be close to them and available to them.  And this little room, just 15 feet in each direction, is where all that took place. 
 
By the way, it's rather interesting to look to the 21st chapter of the last book of the Bible, the book of the Revelation, where we are told about the New Jerusalem and discover that it is 1500 miles long, 1500 miles wide, and 1500 miles tall.  There also, we find a perfect cube.
 
So this holy of holies, the most holy place, is a symbol of the very presence of God, the very throne room of God.  Now obviously, the dwelling place of God is a place that is separate and distinct from every other place in the universe, and to symbolize that separation, God instructed Moses to hang a curtain between these two rooms. 
 
This curtain is called "the veil", and I want us to take a close look at it today.  Its description is given in
 
Exodus 26:31-33
 
The word, veil means "to hide" or "to cover."  On the inside of this veil, in the Holy of Holies, there is one thing and that is the Ark of the Covenant, which we will study next week, God willing. 
It was a small golden box called the Ark of the Covenant.  Inside that box was the Ten Commandments, Aaron's wooden rod that had budded with almonds, and a pot of manna.  We'll see the significance of all that when we study it.
 
On top of the box there was a golden lid adorned by two angels and that lid is called the mercy seat.  It was there that blood from the sacrifice that was made out yonder at the brazen altar was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement.  That is of tremendous importance to Jewish worship.
 
But this veil hanging there between these two rooms covered all that up.  It couldn't be seen.  Even the priests that ministered in the holy place by burning incense and lighting lamps and arranging bread couldn't see what was on the other side. They couldn't go beyond that veil. 
 
In fact, there was only one person who could enter within that veil and that was the high priest and he could only go in there one day a year.  And he had to follow certain procedures and meet certain criteria when he entered or he would be killed.  If he violated any direction or specification of God, he would be killed instantly because he was in the very presence of the God of the universe.
 
So what is the significance of this veil?  If you look at the tabernacle as a whole, you see there are three entrances that eventually lead to the dwelling place of God.   The first entrance is the gate that allows access inside the fence.  Then there is the entrance into the Tabernacle and its known as the door.
Then, there was this veil between the two rooms.
 
So there were three entrances, the gate, the door, and the veil and all of those picture Jesus. That's what Jesus meant when He said, the only way to get to God is through Him.  He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes unto the father but by me."  So if you want to meet God, you have to meet Him through the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
We enter through the gate and find forgiveness, we enter through the door to the fellowship of light and prayer and satisfaction, and we enter through the veil into sweet, intimate life in the presence of God.
 
So let's begin this morning with the instructions for
 
1.  Making the Veil
 
Just to set the scene for what we'll read and study here in Exodus, I want to begin with a verse from Hebrews that talks about this veil.  Listen to
 
Hebrew 10:19-22
 
"Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
 
Now there is a lot that could be said about those verses, and we'll return to them in a moment, but for now, just zero in on one phrase in particular.  Verse 20 tells us the veil, speaking of Jesus, is "His flesh".
So this veil represents the sinless, perfect, holy
humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Keep in mind that this veil hanging at the entrance to the holy of holies is a symbolic picture of the humanity, the body, the flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
That means that all through the years that this tabernacle was in use and eventually, the veil that hung in the temples, it was God saying to the world, "Someday I am going to come into the world and I am going to dwell in flesh and that flesh will be the Way to get into my presence." 
 
That's why Paul wrote to young Timothy in I Timothy 3:16 to say, "and without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness.   God was manifest in the flesh." 
 
When Jesus came into the world in the flesh, in a body, it was God living in human flesh. 
 
Colossians 2:9 puts it this way: "In him (the Lord Jesus) dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily."
 
That means when Jesus Christ walked on this earth in a body, all the fullness of God, everything God was and is and ever shall be, was present in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ.  He was God in human flesh.  And that's what that veil represents—the holy humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ.
 
So what does this veil tell us about Jesus?
 
It pictures for us, first of all,
 
 
 
- the beauty of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
This veil was a marvelous work of art marked by gorgeous design and splendid colors and masterful craftsmanship.  It is a picture of the character, the life, the beauty of our Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Look at the colors in verse 31.  There was blue and purple and scarlet.  The cloth was fine woven linen. 
 
All of that description is packed with symbolic, spiritual meaning.  For instance, blue, in the Bible, is the heavenly color.  The blue threads in the cloth represent the Lord Jesus Christ as the heavenly one.  It represents our Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God.  He is the one who came down from heaven.
 
Hebrews 7:26 says, for such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.   He is the Heavenly One.
 
Those scarlet threads woven into this beautiful veil are a reminder of the sacrifice of Jesus. And there they are woven together in the same piece of cloth telling us that Jesus is not only the heavenly one, the Son of God, but He is also the one who was a sacrifice for our sins.  He was the son of God and He was the Son of Man Who was made to be made a sacrifice for our sins.
 
We also find purple in the veil and purple is a mixture of blue and scarlet.  Mix blue and scarlet to the point that you cannot tell where the blue begins or where the scarlet begins, or where the blue ends or where the scarlet ends, and you have purple and in Scripture, purple is a picture of royalty. 
Now think about what that says.  Jesus Christ was
the Son of God pictured in the heavenly blue and He was the Son of Man who gave His life for us as pictured by the scarlet.  There we see a picture of the perfect mixture of Deity and Humanity in Christ.
 
And the only way you can really describe Him is as the God Man. He was just as much God as if He had not been man.  He was just as much man as if He had not been God.  He is not only the One who the Savior from heaven—blue, He is not only the One who sacrificed Himself on the cross of Calvary for our sins—scarlet, but He is also the God man, seen in the purple as the One who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  Oh, the beauty of the life of the Lord Jesus.
 
The, the fine woven linen represents the absolute sinless, righteousness of Christ.  That means this veil was put together through the work of a very skillful craftsman.  In fact, chapter 31 tells us about the appointment of those who would do the work. We are given the names of two of them in particular, Bezalel and Aholiab. 
 
God anointed these two men with the Holy Spirit enabling them to do all the work that was involved in designing and crafting everything that was used in Tabernacle ministry.  In particular, notice
 
Exodus 31:1,6
 
Now think about this:  When God wanted to make the veil for the tabernacle, he used someone anointed by the Holy Spirit to make this beautiful veil through a God-anointed loom.
 
And when God wanted to make the veil for humanity, he used someone anointed by the Holy Spirit to make His beautiful Son through a God-anointed womb.
 
No earthly womb could have produced the body of the Lord Jesus.  In fact, Luke 1:35 says the angel told Mary, "“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God."
 
That was God's way of telling Mary that when Jesus was conceived, He would not be a natural child, but a supernatural child, conceived by God Himself and born of a virgin. That means His flesh and blood and bones body would be unlike anything else that ever lived on earth!
 
According to Hebrews 10:5, His body was supernaturally prepared by God Himself.  It was fully human, but it was not normal!  it was the sinless body of the Son of God!  And that veil hung there in the tabernacle as a picture of the beauty of the life of the Lord Jesus. 
 
But that's not all it pictured.  No doubt, it was a beautiful thing t behold, but it also hung there as a separation.  And there we see
 
- the barrier of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
When the priests did their work in the holy place, they were well aware of that veil and what was on the other side of it.  They knew they couldn't go into the holy of holies because this barrier was hanging there to prevent their entry.
They could stand there and admire its beauty.  They could admire the gorgeous colors, they could admire the fine threads and all the colors of the threads, they could look at all of that, but that veil was a barrier.  It kept them out.
 
In fact, according to verse 31, when they looked at the veil, they saw angels uniquely woven and embroidered into its design.  In particular, they saw cherubim.  That means "more than one" cherub.  Cherub is singular.  Cherubim is plural. 
 
We don't know a whole lot about the cherubim.  They are something of a mystery to us.  We know they are one of the various classifications of angels that are mentioned in Scripture along with angels, archangels and seraphim.  But we don't know much in particular about cherubim. 
 
But one thing we do know it that when Adam and Eve sinned and were expelled from the garden, God stationed some cherubim at the entrance of the garden of Eden.  And basically, there message was "No Trespassing!"  Stay out!
 
In particular, Genesis 3:24 says,
 
"So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life."
 
And in that sense, the cherubim seem to be guardians of the presence of God.  So this veil was unique from the other curtain and entrances in that these cherubim were embroidered or woven into it and their message was "Stay Out!"
Now remember, this veil represents the life of Jesus and Jesus was the One Who said, "I'm the way to God".  And yet, here hangs this veil saying, "No access is allowed!"
 
So what does that say to us about Jesus?  Listen very closely!   I don't want you to mishear or misunderstand what I'm about to say: 
 
What these angels woven into this curtain tell us about Jesus is that the life of the Lord Jesus Christ in and of itself, His perfect life, is not what gets you into the presence of God.  As a matter of fact, it's what keeps you from the presence of God.
 
The perfection of Jesus Christ is a barrier.  If Jesus Christ had come down from heaven to the earth and had lived a sinless, perfect life and at the conclusion of that sinless, perfect life had gone back to heaven, there wouldn't be any salvation or any way to heaven for anybody on the earth.  The life of Jesus is not what does it. 
 
As long as that veil was hanging in that place right there, access to God was blocked.  It said, "You can't come in.  No access." 
 
You say, "well Brother Terry, that's terrible!  We can't get to God, even though Jesus lived a perfect life?"  That's exactly right!  And that's why we need to move very quickly to the second thing I want you to see about the veil. 
 
The making of the veil represents the beauty of our Lord Jesus Christ and the barrier of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
But now I want you to think about
 
2.  Tearing the Veil
 
To understand this point, we need to fast-forward all the way over in the New Testament to Matthew 27.
We are now hundreds of years beyond this Old Testament Tabernacle.  And in the New Testament we see a different picture, but it is very familiar.
 
The Tabernacle that was used in the wilderness was eventually replaced by a larger and more permanent building called the Temple.
 
It was built on the same design and functioned in the same way as that little portable Tabernacle.  The instructions for building this magnificent temple were given to King Solomon, and it was an amazing structure!  And it was standing and in use at the time Jesus was on the earth. 
 
As we come to Matthew 27, Jesus is hanging on the cross outside the city of Jerusalem.  Over in the middle of town, priests are busily working in the temple in preparation for Jewish passover.
 
Now get this picture:  Jesus is hanging on a cross, and over in the tabernacle, a veil is hanging between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.
 
Now keep in mind, the tabernacle and the temple follow the same design, but the temple is much larger.  In the tabernacle, the veil was about 15 feet wide and high. In Solomon's temple, the veil was 60 feet and 30 feet wide. 
 
Josephus, the Jewish historian, says it was 4" thick and woven so tightly together that 2 teams of oxen could not pull it a part.  It took 300 priests just to handle that veil.  Now remember that veil is hanging in Solomon's temple in Jerusalem while outside the city, the Lord Jesus Christ is hanging on the cross, dying for the sins of the world. 
 
He was placed on that cross at 9:00 in the morning and He hung there until His death which occurred at 3 in the afternoon. For six hours, Jesus hung there in misery, agony and pain, both inwardly and spiritually and outwardly and physically.  No one before or after has ever endured what Jesus went through for those six hours. 
 
Then, at 3:00 in the afternoon, Matthew 27:50, records that Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying only one word in the Hebrew language.  That word was "Tetelestai", which translates into English as "It is finished!"
 
By the way, He said “IT” is finished, not "I am finished."  The word is actually an accountants term that means "paid in full".  Jesus was making the announcement that everything that needed to be done on the cross had been accomplished.
 
And when he said, "It is finished", listen to what happened"
 
Matthew 27:51
 
"Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,"
 
All of a sudden, on its own, without any human interference, that veil split right down the middle!  Remember, it was 60 feet high and 4 inches thick, and yet it was torn into, and Scripture makes sure to tell us it was torn from top to bottom! 
 
That means no human hands did it.  God Himself  tore that veil apart in the temple.  And now, in the aftermath of the crucifixion, there is hangs in shreds as a silent testimony to the fact that God, through the finished work of Christ on the cross, has opened up His Holy Dwelling place!
 
It reminds us the only way you and I can ever get within the veil and into the presence of God is not by any work that any human hand can do, it has to be the supernatural work of God.  God has to do a miracle to open up the door that, you and I can go into His very holy presence. 
 
That's why I said a moment ago that the life of Jesus is a barrier.  That untorn veil hanging in the tabernacle and the temple, while it represents the perfect humanity of Jesus, is also a solemn reminder that we are not saved by His life. 
 
We are saved by His death and shed blood and that torn veil represents the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ—the shedding of His blood.  That is what opens up the door and make s it possible for me and for you to go in.
 
On the cross, the Lord Jesus was shedding His blood so that you and I could go into the presence of God.  As we'll see next week, the high priest couldn't go into that holy of holies apart from blood.  There had to be blood of a sacrificial animal. 
Our salvation does not depend on the beauty of the veil, it depends on the blood of a victim.  The blood of the victim was the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Making the veil.  Tearing the veil.
 
Here's my third thought.
 
3.   Entering the Veil
 
I want to finish up today with a thought from Hebrews 10.  When Jesus cried, it is finished, and when the veil of the temple was torn in two, there were priests working in that temple.  It all happened at the hour of the evening sacrifice. 
 
Can you imagine what it must have been like to be in the temple when that veil started ripping?  There they are.  Working with the tables, working at the lampstand, working at the altar of incense.  I think it's a little bit spooky to be in an empty church by myself.  Can you imagine what must have gone through their minds when that big old veil begins to tear in half?
 
Over there on Golgotha, Jesus gathers his last bit of strength, and with a loud voice says, "It is finished", and at that very instant, over in the temple, 60 feet of veil starts ripping!
 
No wonder a few days later, the Bible records in Acts 6:7 that a "great multitude of the priests were obedient to the faith."   I think I'd get right with God also! 
 
 
They had never seen anything like that.  Tradition says they tried to sew it back together.  I don't know whether they got it sewed back together or not.  I don't think they did.  I don't think it every could be put back together because when Jesus died on the cross God was saying that the way into my presence through the blood of Jesus Christ is for ever and finally open.  Those priests saw that and they said—we never saw anything like this.  Who is this Jesus that's dying on that cross?
 
I wonder if they looked into the Holy of Holies.  How could they resist?  They had never been in there or seen in there, and all of a sudden, it's all laid open!  They probably covered up their faces and peeked through their fingers! 
 
And suddenly, because of what Jesus did over there on the cross, they are standing in the presence of God! 
 
And what they didn't realize right at that moment is that they didn't have to be afraid!  God was inviting them in!  What did we read a moment ago from Hebrews 10?
 
"Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."
 
 
The high priest had to come in there with blood.  Nobody comes into the presence of God except by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.  There is no salvation any other way except by the precious blood of the Lord.  The Bible says without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin.  We enter into the holy of holies by the blood of Jesus.
 
And that's now we get in also!  When God tore that veil in the temple, God was saying—the old dispensation is done away with.  There's a brand new day. 
 
He was saying that this is the end of symbols.  No more rituals.  No more symbols.  No more ceremonies.  This is the end of sacrifice.  Don't need anymore priests on the earth to make sacrifices for your sin.  One sacrifice forever has been made when Jesus died on that cross.  No more separation.
 
What really causes the separation and the barrier is sin.  it is sin that is the real barrier between man and God.  It's your sin that keeps you from God.  In fact, sin keeps you from a lot of good things.  Sin keeps you from having joy. 
 
Sin stands between you and peace.  Sin separates you from happiness.  Sin keeps you out of heaven.  Sin stands between you and God.  But when Jesus Christ who knew no sin was made sin for us and God ripped him on the cross, it opened up a new way and a living way for you and for me.
 
That's what the writer of Hebrews is saying.  It all happened "by a new and living way which he has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh."
Then notice
 
Hebrews 10:22-24
 
Three times God says to us, let us.  Let us draw near.  Let us hold fast the profession of our faith.  Let us consider one another. 
 
That unrent veil in the Old Testament said "stay out."  But the rent veil in the New Testament says, "Come on in."
 
And every time you and I as God's children approach God by the precious blood of Jesus in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we go within the veil.  And it is only because of and through what happened at the cross that is possible.
 
Now watch this, and I'll be through:  Everything we have studied so far about this tabernacle has been pointing us to where we stand this morning.  We started in the outer courtyard with a gate that allowed entrance that was right in the center of that section of fence. 
 
Then, inside we encountered an altar, then a laver.  , Altar, next a laver.  We enter the holy place through the door and on the inside, there is a table on one side, a lampstand on the other side, and a golden altar in the middle.
 
Then, directly through the veil, there is the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat of God.  Did you see what that tells us?  Let's turn it around so it will become more clear.
 
Viewed from the top, the layout of the tabernacle pictures a cross and that cross leads directly into the very presence of God.
 
Now here's the good news:  The door to the Holiest of All is standing open.  No longer does a veil separate us from His presence.  God Himself opened the door and invited us to come in and any sinner who wants to be saved can be saved.  One of the sweetest verses in all the Bible says, "Whosoever will may come!", and this morning God invites you in.
 
Let's pray.