by Kevin Burton
One of the wonders my new schoolmates told me about after I got to the Ohio State School for the Blind was a great separator.
It delineated this side from that side, my side from your side. They called it The Magic Door.
See, I even capitalized it. It was a big deal in more ways than one. It was in our gymnasium, one of my all-time favorite rooms in life. But that room became two rooms sometimes.
Of course there was nothing magic about it. There was a button one of the adults pushed to make a panel open and an electronic device begin unspooling a big patrician. It made a rumbling noise as it unfolded until at last with a shudder it split the gym in two from top to bottom.
At that point you generally had the boys doing something on the north side, the girls doing something different on the south side.
There was a doorway though, at the east end of the Magic Door, by the girls’ locker room, where you could go from one side to the other.
The Magic Door was part of my early life. But today I want to talk about another patrician. There was no easy access with this one. It was the ultimate separator, until one day, it was not.
Under King Solomon the children of Israel built a magnificent temple to serve as the house of their God. Within that temple was a most sacred room. Here’s a description of the room from a passage on www.goodseed.com.
“Within the Holy Place of the tabernacle, there was an inner room called the Holy of Holies, or the Most Holy Place. It was a most sacred room, a place no ordinary person could enter. It was God’s special dwelling place in the midst of His people,” the passage reads.
“A thick curtain separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place. This curtain, known as the “veil,” was made of fine linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn.”
“The word “veil” in Hebrew means a screen, divider or separator that hides. What was this curtain hiding? Essentially it was shielding a Holy God from sinful man,” the passage reads.”
“Whoever entered the Holy of Holies was entering the very presence of God. In fact, anyone except the high priest who entered the Holy of Holies would die. Even the high priest, God’s chosen mediator with His people, could only pass through the veil and enter this sacred dwelling once a year, on a prescribed day called the Day of Atonement.
(Break that word apart to see “at-one-ment.”)
“The picture of the veil was that of a barrier between man and God, showing man that the holiness of God could not be trifled with. The veil was a barrier to make sure that man could not carelessly and irreverently enter God’s awesome presence.”
“Even as the high priest entered the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, he had to make some meticulous preparations: He had to wash himself, put on special clothing, bring burning incense to let the smoke cover his eyes from a direct view of God, and bring blood with him to make atonement for sins,” the passage reads.
“So the presence of God remained shielded from man behind a thick curtain during the history of Israel.”
However, Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross changed that. When he died, the curtain in the Jerusalem temple was torn in half, from the top to the bottom.”
“Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split” Matt. 27:51. NKJV.
“Only God could have carried out such an incredible feat. The veil was about 60 feet high, 30 feet wide and four inches thick,” the passage reads. “Furthermore it was torn from the top down, meaning this act must have come from above.”
“As the veil was torn, the Holy of Holies was exposed. God’s presence was now accessible to all. Shocking as this may have been to the priests ministering in the temple that day, it is indeed good news to us believers today, because we know that Jesus’ death has atoned for our sins and made us right before God,” the passage reads.
The torn veil illustrated Jesus’ body broken for us, opening the way for us to come to God.
As Jesus cried out “It is finished” on the cross, He was indeed proclaiming that God’s redemptive plan was now complete. The age of animal offering was over. The ultimate offering had been sacrificed. We can now boldly enter into God’s presence.”
“Therefore brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is his body, …let us draw near to god with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith,” Heb. 10: 19-22” the passage reads.
In the discussion of the veil you have Biblical proof that you have no need to go through any priest or any other man or any ritual, to reach God.
The separation is no more. It is finished.
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 8:38-39 KJV.
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