Veil פָּרֹ֫כֶת

We are in chapter twenty-six of Exodus with our word for today used for the first time in the Bible. פָּרֹ֫כֶת curtain, veil. It is used 25 times in the Old Testament, 5 times in our chapter. Let’s start with our chapter since it is also the first time it is used in the Bible. Exodus 26:31-35 And you shall make a פָרֹ֗כֶת veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, on four bases of silver. And you shall hang הַפָּרֹכֶת֮ the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there לַפָּרֹ֔כֶת within the veil. And הַפָּרֹ֙כֶת֙ the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy. You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place. And you shall set the table outside לַפָּרֹ֔כֶת the veil, and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle opposite the table, and you shall put the table on the north side. Did you notice the purpose of the veil or curtain was to make a separation? The place where the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat are to be in one part and the table and the lampstand are to be in the other part. We find this referenced again when the actual work was being done to make all of these items for the tabernacle worship (Exodus 40:3, 21-23). We will look at these phrases the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place tomorrow. For today let’s focus on the veil itself. It was made out of very fine material and had angels embroidered on it (Exodus 36:35). We see the blood of the sacrifice being brought inside the veil for the sin offering. Leviticus 16:15 Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside לַפָּרֹ֑כֶת the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. This relationship with the sin of the people and death reminds us of what Jesus did for us and how this changed the curtain’s purpose of separation. Matthew 27:50-51 The curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. God made it clear in a real visible way that our sin that was separating us from him was now paid for by Jesus and taken away. Notice how the Holy Spirit interprets Jesus death in our place as giving us access to God himself through our relationship with his son. I’ll close with this great passages. Hebrews 6:19-20 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever. Hebrews 9:1-5, 11-12 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron's staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat … But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come … he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. Hebrews 10:19-22 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, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.