Exodus 26:33, commentary and pictures

The veil was hung beneath the clasps so that the ark of the testimony could be brought inside it, and it formed the division between the holy place and the most holy. It was a rich and beautiful curtain of fine linen in blue, purple, and scarlet with cherubim wrought in gold and silver thread, matching the veil at the entrance and the ceiling curtains of the tabernacle. Within that veil above the mercy seat between the cherubim dwelt the glory of the Holiest in His sacred audience chamber, so holy that no one could enter unbidden without death and only the high priest entered once a year with trembling while incense veiled the glory and all worshiped in silent awe. At the death of Christ the veil was torn from top to bottom, laying the most holy open and showing that type had met antitype in the infinite sacrifice for sin so that the ritual service with the blood of bulls and goats had no further value. The earthly sanctuary with its two apartments was a pattern of the heavenly sanctuary, where Jesus lifts the veils to give entrance and offer the prayers of the saints with incense by the ark, passing through the second veil into the most holy in 1844 to intercede where the Ten Commandments are kept.

Veil in Tabernacle Structure

The veil was to hang beneath the clasps so that the ark of the testimony could be brought within it, and it was to divide between the holy place and the most holy. The wilderness tabernacle built at God's command as His earthly dwelling while Israel journeyed had, besides an outer court containing the altar of burnt offering, two apartments called the holy and the most holy. Though so constructed that it could be taken apart and carried from place to place in all their journeyings, it was a structure of great magnificence. Its walls were upright boards heavily plated with purest gold set in sockets of silver, and its roof was formed of layered curtains or coverings, the outer of skins and the innermost of fine linen beautifully wrought with figures of cherubim.

The dividing curtain was a rich and beautiful veil, a heavy tapestry of pure linen in varied colors most beautifully arranged, wrought with gold, scarlet and purple. Cherubim were inwrought with threads of gold and silver. A similar veil closed the entrance to the first apartment, and these veils together with the curtain forming the ceiling of the tabernacle matched in material and workmanship.

The ark placed within the veil in the most holy place is called the ark of the testimony because it contained the stone tables bearing God's Ten Commandments. The veil did not reach to the top of the building, so the glory above the mercy seat could be seen from both apartments, though less clearly from the holy place. Its specifications, like the skill and wisdom used to build the tabernacle, were given by God for His glory. The tabernacle was God's dwelling place on earth where He met with people after the fall and where His voice was often heard.

Guarded Divine Presence

Within the veil, above the mercy seat between the cherubim, dwelt the glory of the Holiest with worshiping angels. The most holy place was therefore God's sacred audience chamber, where He met with the high priest to communicate His glory. The divine presence was manifested there in a cloud of glory above the ark, and that one apartment was sacred to His presence. It was glory upon which no man might look and live.

That place was sacred and could not be entered unbidden without death. Its veil was not to be lifted by any hand save one, and to lift it and intrude unbidden into the sacred mystery was death. Only the high priest entered, on the one appointed day each year, with trembling, while clouds of incense veiled the glory from his sight. Throughout the courts every sound was hushed, no priests ministered at the altars, and the host of worshipers bowed in silent awe offering petitions for mercy.

Beyond that inner veil was the holy of holies, where the symbolic service of atonement and intercession centered. The priest praying toward the unseen mercy seat portrays God's people directing their prayers by faith to Christ as Mediator before the mercy seat in the heavenly sanctuary and confidently receiving the benefits of His mediation. At the death of Christ the heavy veil was torn from top to bottom, laying the most holy place open to every eye and no longer recognized by the Lord. This showed that type had met antitype in an infinite sacrifice for the sins of the world and that offering the blood of bulls and goats and performing the ritual service had no further value. The ark abiding within the veil calls God's people to have right hearts and to die to self.

Heavenly Sanctuary Revealed

The veil that divided the earthly sanctuary into the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place where the ark of the testimony stood shows that its two apartments and their furnishings were a pattern of the heavenly sanctuary. The cherubim inwrought with threads of gold and silver in those veils and in the ceiling curtain represent the angelic host who are connected with the work of the heavenly sanctuary. They are ministering angels to the saints upon the earth.

The temple in the Holy City in heaven has the same division between the Holy Place and the Most Holy. A first veil opens into the holy place, which contains the altar of incense, the candlestick with seven lamps, and the table on which is the showbread. A second veil divides between the holy place and the most holy and opens into the Holy of Holies. Within it is the ark with cherubim on each end with wings spread and faces turned toward each other and looking downward, a golden censer between them, and an exceeding bright glory above the ark like a throne where God dwells.

Both veils are raised by Jesus to bring into view the glory within and to give entrance. The way leads through the first veil into the holy place, then Jesus raises the second veil to allow entry into the most holy place. There He stands by the ark to offer the prayers of the saints to the Father with the smoke of the incense from the censer. When Jesus finished ministering in the Holy Place in 1844, He passed through the second veil into the Most Holy Place, where the ark contains the Ten Commandments and He intercedes for the prayers of the saints.