The Curtain Torn

The Curtain Torn

Scripture Reading: Matthew 27:51-54

The writer of Hebrews helps us to further understand the typological significance of the Temple veil and its rending. He writes in 1:19-20, Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh…

At Christmastime, we often sing the line from the Wesley hymn “Hark the Herald Angels,” “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see.” The Christological idea is that in the incarnation Christ’s divine nature was veiled by His human, that is His flesh veiled the glory that is His as the second person of the Trinity.

This is where the writer of Hebrews is picking up on the typology of the Temple. The curtain in the Temple that separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place was a picture of Christ’s human nature. Just as the curtain veiled or hid the glory of God that was present and manifest within the Holy Place, the flesh of Christ veiled or hid His glory from the eyes of men.

So, as Christ’s flesh was torn by His death on the Cross, the “new and living way” was opened for us so that we could have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus.

This is the point Matthew is making by his simple observation, “Behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.”