On the other side of Christ’s fleshly veil, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.”
Have you ever heard of a veiled threat—a thinly disguised warning? What we are about to see now is, at the same time, a veiled warning and a glorious invitation. Here we are introduced to one of the most remarkable masterpieces in the tabernacle. “You shall make a veil woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen. It shall be woven with an artistic design of cherubim” (Ex 26:31). This was the third divider from outside to inside. First there was a colorful linen gate into the courtyard, then the curtained door into the Holy Place, followed by the veil, the separation between the Holy Place and the Holiest of All. Again we see the heavenly origin, mediatorial rule, and sacrificial offering of God’s Son in the colors. And again there are the cherubim, like those who barred the way into Eden to our fallen parents. But in what way does this speak of Christ? No need to guess. “Having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus…through the veil, that is, His flesh,…let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (Heb 10:19-22). So here is the secret! Christ’s human body hid God’s glory from humanity or else it would have consumed us. But it also revealed God’s character in human terms: “God was manifested in the flesh” (1 Tim 3:16). Although the veil, like Christ’s flesh, blocked men from drawing too close to this One “dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see” (6:16), it allowed them to get closer, within the Holy Place, than they could have approached by any other way. But now that Christ has died, and His body-veil has been torn in two like the temple veil, we have access through Him right into the Holiest! I hope we never get used to such an honor!