You have probably noticed that
when God gave Moses instructions concerning the erecting and building
of the tabernacle, he began with that which was unseen and worked
his way out to that which is seen. He began with the mercy
seat, the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat covering it
and comes outward. Those things that were described
first were things that were hidden to the eye. Between the holy
place and the most holy place, between the holy place and the
holy of holies, there was a thick, thick veil. A veil of separation. And that's my subject tonight.
Turn with me to Exodus chapter 26. Exodus 26. This veil of separation kept the mercy seat and the Ark
of the Covenant and the Shekinah glory, the manifest presence
of God, hidden from the people so that they never saw it. It
was never beheld by any except by Aaron and the priest who succeeded
him. It was hidden behind this thick,
thick veil which separated the holy place where the table of
showbread and the candlestick were from the most holy place
of the holy of holies. Behind this thick veil, no man
could ever go except the high priest in Israel. And he could
go only once a year on the prescribed day that God had ordained on
the day of atonement. And he could go only with the
blood of God's sacrifice, the Paschal Lamb. He must go in behind
the veil and make atonement first for himself and his house. And then he must go in behind
the veil and make atonement for the people with the blood of
the Lamb. Let's read about this veil of separation beginning
at verse 31. Exodus 26 verse 31. Thou shalt make the veil of blue
and purple and scarlet and fine twined linen of cunning work
with cherubims shall it be made. And thou shalt hang it upon four
pillars of shirim wood, overlaid with gold. Their hooks shall
be of gold upon the four sockets of silver. And thou shalt hang
up the veil under the taches, under the buckles that thou mayest
bring in thither within the veil, the ark of the testimony. And
the veil shall divide unto you. between the holy place and the
most holy. Thou shalt put the mercy seat
upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place. And thou
shalt set the table without the veil and the candlestick over
against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the
south. And thou shalt put the table on the north side. Hold
your hands here. I put a mark there and turn to
Hebrews chapter nine. We're not left to guess about
what this veil represents. The Spirit of God tells us very
plainly that this veil, this thick, thick veil, hanging between
the holy place and the most holy place, represents our Lord Jesus
Christ in his glorious humanity as the God-man, our mediator. Hebrews chapter 9, verse 1. Then
verily, the first covenant, the first testament, had also ordinances
of divine service and a worldly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle
made, the first, wherein was the candlestick and the table
and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary. And after the
second veil, the tabernacle, which is called the holiest of
all, which had the golden censer and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid
round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna,
and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant.
And over it the cherubims of glory, shadowing the mercy seat,
of which we cannot now speak particularly. Now when these
things were thus ordained, the priest went always into the first
tabernacle. Accomplishing the service of
God that is in the outer tabernacle. They went day after day Performing
the services that God had required verse 7 but into the second Went
the high priest alone once every year Not without blood which
he offered for himself and for the errors of the people the
Holy Ghost this signifying By these things this is what the
Holy Ghost was saying that the way into the holiest of all was
not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet
standing, which was a figure for the time then present, in
which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not
make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the
conscience. That is, these sacrifices could
never make a man's conscience free of guilt. These sacrifices
could never make a man perfect before God. They were only typical
ceremonial sacrifices. Verse 10, they stood only in
meats and drinks and divers washings and carnal ordinances imposed
on them until the time of Reformation. But Christ, being come an high
priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood,
he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us. Clearly, the veil of separation. points to our blessed Savior
who with his own blood has obtained eternal redemption for us. I
want to show you four things with regard to this veil. First,
it should be noted that a veil is a covering. A veil is something
that hides stuff. A veil is something that conceals
whatever is behind it. and speak about a veil. In our
day, you commonly think of the pictures you see on television
or in newspaper magazines of the Islamic women who cover their
faces with a veil. And there's a reason for that.
Because of Islamic law, women are required to cover their faces
so that they're not seen by those men other than their husbands.
And so they cover themselves with a veil. This veil spoken
of here, is a veil of covering hiding that which is behind the
veil. What's that? Hiding behind the
veil the glory of God, the presence of God. Hiding behind the veil
that which is man and God dwelling together represented in the mercy
seat. The veil is a veil of covering. You remember when Moses came
down from the mount, his face shone. His face beamed, glistening
with a brightness that the children of Israel could not look on.
They said, Moses, cover your face so we don't see this brilliant,
dazzling brightness that shines from you. And our Lord Jesus
was on the mount of transfiguration. The glory that was in him suddenly
burst forth and Peter, James, and John saw the Son of God transfigured
as Moses and Elijah spoke to him about the death he would
accomplish at Jerusalem. This veil is the covering of
these things. These things that Moses saw and
heard. These things that caused his
face to shine with beaming brightness as the sun. And these things
that caused our Savior to be transfigured before the eyes
of his apostles. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
3. Paul tells us here by divine
inspiration that there is still a veil on the faces, on the hearts
of men whenever Moses is read. And this veil remains untaken
away until faith is granted in Christ Jesus the Lord. Oh, how blessed we are if God
has taken away the veil. How blessed we are when we open
this book, if God takes the veil, the covering off of our eyes,
off of our hearts, and allows us to see the wondrous things
recorded here. Look at 2 Corinthians 3, verse
8. How shall not the ministration
of the Spirit be rather glorious? Brother Lindsey mentioned the
work of God's Spirit The whole of that which we enjoy in the
experience of God's grace is that which is brought to us by
the work of God, the Holy Spirit, taking the things of Christ and
showing them to us. This is a glorious ministry,
the ministry of the Spirit. For if the ministration of condemnation
be glory, what is that? The ministration of death. It's
the teaching and preaching of law. If that's glorious, much
more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which is made glorious
had no glory in this respect by reason of the glory that accepteth. For if that which is done away
was glorious, the law which is now done away was glorious, much
more that which remaineth is glorious. Seeing then we have
such hope. We use great plainness of speech,
and not as Moses, which put a veil over his face that the children
of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which
is abolished. But their minds were blinded.
For until this day there remaineth the same veil untaken away in
the reading of the Old Testament, which veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day when Moses
is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless verse 16
when it shall turn to the Lord when Israel turns to the Lord
the veil shall be taken away Now the Lord is that spirit and
where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty But we all
with open face Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord
are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by
the Spirit of the Lord look down to chapter 4 verse 6 and For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in Jesus Christ. The veil of the tabernacle, he
hid. That is to say, it came between God and his people, hiding
God's glory from his people, hiding God's presence from his
people. It was a veil of separation.
Now remember, this veil of separation is a type of our Lord Jesus in
His humanity. It's a picture of Him who took
on Him the likeness of sinful flesh. And taking on Him the
likeness of sinful flesh, His flesh, like a veil, concealed
His glory. Until just before his death his
glory burst forth on the mouth of transfiguration Giving a foretaste
of that glory which he now possesses in heaven and that glory that
is his forevermore now Second look at the materials with which
the veil of separation was made. They're highly symbolic If you
look back at the first verse of Exodus 26 You will see that
this veil of separation Was made of exactly the same material
and in the same way As the curtains that were over the tabernacle
those curtains that could be seen from inside the tabernacle
And if you read down in the next couple of verses, uh, verses
36 and 37 You'll see that this veil is made of the same materials
as that outer curtain or that outer door of the tabernacle
because all refer to one and the same person, and all refer
to one and the same thing, and that is Christ Jesus the Lord
and the accomplishments of our Redeemer as our substitute. The
veil was made of fine linen. Oh, fine linen representing the
purity of our Savior's nature as the God-man. The holiness
of his life as our mediator. The perfect righteousness of
his obedience as our representative before God. This veil was made
of fine twined linen. Linen interwoven and twisted
together representing our Redeemer's strength as the God-man, our
mediator. Fine twined linen. Someone said
that's the texture of his being. God and man finely twined in
one so that the two cannot be distinguished. We keep trying. And I suppose we must, as we
read through the scriptures, make distinctions between our
Savior's manhood and His humanity. He is sometimes called the Son
of God, sometimes the Son of Man. And it's clear that He is
both God and man. And yet, His manhood and His
divinity so finely twined, so twisted together, so meshed,
that there's no distinguishing of one from the other. The veil
was made of cunning work. Our Savior's incarnation is certainly
the cunning work of God the Holy Spirit listen to this the angel
said to Mary the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power
of the highest shall overshadow thee what language how is it
that this woman who never knew a man has formed in her belly
this man who is the seed of woman, who is God the Son. How is it
that this woman has the man, Christ Jesus, formed in her?
The power of the highest overshadowed her. Therefore also, listen to
how Christ is described, that holy thing. that holy thing. His body is that holy thing necessary
for the accomplishment of redemption. His body, His humanity, that
holy thing necessary for God to be revealed. His body, His
humanity, that holy thing formed in the Virgin's womb which shall
be called the Son of God. And it is a veil made of blue
and purple and scarlet. Blue, you'll remember, representing
the heaven, speaks of our Lord Jesus, who came from heaven.
The scarlet, representing man, Adam's name, red earth. And the
purple, speaking of the blue and scarlet, mingled together,
speaks of Christ, the God-man. The blue speaks of him who came
from heaven, and the scarlet speaks of him who is the God-man,
our mediator, mingled together in the purple of his absolute
being, God and man, is Christ Jesus. My soul, Mary said, doth
magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my savior. This one who is our redeemer
is the royal king and priest of Israel, our savior. These
colors may also represent the graces of the Spirit of God that
filled our Savior. He was anointed with the Spirit
without measure, the Scripture tells us. And the veil of separation
was made with cherubims embroidered on it. You remember the cherubims
were embroidered on the curtain in fine gold. The cherubims were
made as one piece Try to picture one piece of beaten gold, the
mercy seat, with cherubims overshadowing the mercy seat. One piece. Why
did God specify that the cherubims be embroidered with gold in this
veil? embroidered with gold in that
curtain hanging above. Why did God insist that the mercy
seat be made of one piece of beaten gold with the cherubim
on each end facing the mercy seat, overshadowing the mercy
seat? Because the cherubim and the mercy seat are one. Because
Christ and his people are one. There's no separating of Christ
from his people or his people from him. Not in any aspect of
his being or his obedience. get hold of that, my soul get
hold of that, there is no possibility of me being separated from Christ
or Christ separated from me in all his being, in all his work,
in all his accomplishments, and in all his glory. The cherubim
and the mercy seat, the cherubim and the Redeemer are one. Christ
and his people are one. All right, here's the third thing.
In verse 32, we're told the position of this veil. Thou shalt hang
it upon the four pillars of Shittemwood, overlaid with gold. Their hooks
shall be of gold upon the four sockets of silver. This veil
is so large, so thick, so heavy. so wide that it had to be hung
on four pillars, those four pillars standing between the holy place
and the most holy place. These pillars were made of shidom
wood, that enduring substance, overlaid with pure gold, set
in sockets of silver. The pillars probably, I'm just
guessing, I have to acknowledge, probably speak of the divinity
of our Redeemer. It was the divinity of our Redeemer
that upheld his humanity in everything he did. It is the divinity of
our Redeemer that gives merit and virtue and efficacy to all
that he accomplished. Understand what I'm saying. Understand
what this book teaches. Those who deny the absolute efficacy
of Christ's accomplishments. Now, this is what I'm saying,
Larry. If you should deny that Every sinner for whom Christ
lived and died stands before God perfectly righteous, redeemed
and accepted. You've denied his divinity. It
is his divinity that gives merit and efficacy to everything he
accomplished. His divinity makes his righteousness
of infinite worth. His divinity makes his death
of infinite worth to satisfy all the demands of God's holiness
and justice on our behalf. The shitter would overlaid with
gold. spoke of the eternality of Christ our Redeemer and the
eternality of all his accomplishments. The veil hung upon these gold
hooks and the post, the pillars on which it hung, were set in
sockets of silver. You remember the sockets of silver
speak of the atoning work of Christ our Redeemer? so that
everything is connected together and everything is brought into
perfect harmony through the blood atonement of Christ Jesus, our
Lord, linking God and man through his blood. This thick, heavy
veil of separation was hung directly in front of the mercy seat. Here it hangs. The mercy seat,
this Ark of the Covenant covered with mercy seat. the most important,
the single most important piece of furniture in all of Old Testament
history. The single most important object
in all the worship services of the Old Testament. When the children
of Israel were taught to look toward Jerusalem, they were not
taught physically to turn and look toward Jerusalem, but rather
to look toward Jerusalem because there's where the mercy seat
was. There's where the Ark of the Covenant was. That's where
God said, I'll meet you on the mercy seat, where atonement is
made. The mercy seat's the single most
important thing. And God hung a veil. A veil you
can't possibly see through. A veil you're not permitted to
go through. a veil to separate men, the men
of His choice, the men and women of His covenant, the men He chose
to be His own people. God hung a veil separating the
two. He separated God from man. And this too is magnificent to
remember. The veil, the very thing that
separated God from man, represented Him by whom God and man are reconciled. So that this veil hanging here
is a testimony to Israel, a perpetual, continual testimony. There is
a way for you to get to God. There is a way for men, sinners
that we are, to come to God and be accepted of Him. And that
way is Christ the Redeemer. There's no access to God but
through this veil. It is through Christ Jesus alone
that fallen sinners come to God and have access to him. He said,
I am the way. The priest entered behind the
veil. And as he did, what a solemn,
solemn time that must have been in those days when the priest
still believed God. Before worship in the Old Testament
had been reduced to nothing but ceremony. When men still believed
God, this high priest would go in into that holy place. And then he would take the blood
and the incense and he would push that veil aside. Push that
thick, thick, heavy veil. Push inside and enter into God's
presence. Sprinkle the blood on the mercy
seat and God would show his glory. What a solemn thing he did. As
he did, James, he said, pushing that veil aside, Christ, the
incarnate God, he of whom this veil speaks, must be removed. He must be brought down, down
to death, or else there's no access to God. Then fourth, let's
look at the rending of this veil. The fullest Most delightful explanation
of the veil is the rending of the veil. When our Lord Jesus
Christ gave up the ghost, Matthew tells us immediately, the veil
in the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. From the highest heaven to the
lowest earth, from the top to the bottom. Christ Jesus has opened a new
and living way by his blood by which sinners can come into God
and be accepted of him. Not only has he entered in for
himself with his own blood, he entered in as our forerunner
with his blood and with his blood obtained eternal redemption for
us. The Lord Jesus Christ, by His
death, opened this new and living way. And so He has broken down
all the veils that separated man from God and separated men
from one another. He breaks down that middle wall
of partition between Jew and Gentile, between black and white
and bond and free, between male and female. He makes all one
in Himself. He takes the mysteries, all the
mysteries that had been hidden from generations gone by, and
he opens up the mysteries by the sacrifice of himself. Turn
to Isaiah chapter 25 for a moment. Isaiah 25. In the mountain of
God, that is in the church of God, this veil had been taken
away. Isaiah 25 verse 6. And in this
mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast
of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full
of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. Verse seven, and
he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast
over all people and the veil that is spread over all nations.
How is that? He'll swallow up death in victory,
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces, and
the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off the earth,
for the Lord has spoken it. And it shall be said in that
day, lo, this is our God. We have waited for him, and he
will save us. This is the Lord. We have waited
for him, and we will be glad in his salvation. Let me just
make a few comments about this rending of the veil. First, it
was rent by God. The invisible hand of the invisible
God ripped the veil in two. And Jesus Christ, the Lamb of
God, was sacrificed by God, our Father, for us. He was put to
death by his father's will, by his father's decree, and by his
father's justice. The veil was rent in the midst. It was ripped in two. It wasn't torn down the side. It wasn't worn from the bottom.
It was ripped in the midst from the top to the bottom. Our Lord
Jesus did not make a side access by which we could get to God,
but rather he opened the way for us, fulfilling every demand
of justice, every demand of God's law, and by his obedience unto
death accomplished redemption for us. The veil was completely
rent. How can I say this so that everybody
who hears me will understand? This veil was so thoroughly rent
that there is not a thread to bar God from his people or his
people from him. Rent in two. This veil completely
rent. Our God has opened and no man
can shut. He's thrown wide open the gates
of heaven to the very chief of sinners. This veil declares that
Christ is the end of the law. He's fulfilled it. He has put
it away. He's finished it. He's abolished
all its curses, all its condemnation, all guilt for his people is gone
because Christ has fulfilled everything. This veil was rent
in the presence of those Jewish priests precisely at the time
of the offering of the evening sacrifice, three o'clock in the
afternoon. It had been years since any priest
had really sprinkled blood upon the mercy seat, but they continued
to keep up the mockery. They continued to keep up the
charade, and every year on the Day of Atonement, they would
slit a lamb's throat, and they would put a little blood on the
altar, and then they would go in behind the veil. Can you imagine
how shocked that priest must have been to see that veil rent
in two? But it was rent in two not for
the embarrassment of the priest. It was rent in two. to open to
our eyes clearly the true mercy seat, the true ark of the covenant,
the true glory of God, and that's Christ Jesus, the Lord, who is
the propitiation for our sins. Turn to 1 John chapter 1. The veil was rent in two. I'm not looking for words. I'm
waiting for you to listen real close. To show us that it is no longer profanity
for Oscar Bailey to handle holy things. It used to be profanity. Man touched it. Don't touch the
mount. You'd be stoned to death. Man
comes into this holy place. He goes in there. He's put to
death. Aaron's sons were killed instantly because in the outer
court they offered strange fire to the Lord. It was profanity
to do anything with the carnal hand except exactly according
to the decree and the command of God. For the common man to
do it was profanity. Now, it's no longer profanity. You and I not only have the privilege,
we are commanded of God To come near and handle him. To come near and handle God.
Look at this. First John chapter one, verse
one. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard,
which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, which
our hands have handled of the word of life. For the life was
manifested and we've seen it and bear witness and show unto
you that eternal life which was with the father and was manifested
unto us. That which we've seen and heard
declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us that
you can handle the same thing we've handled. And truly our
fellowship is with the father and with his son, Jesus Christ.
Are you sure that's what he's talking about? Look at chapter
two. My little children, These things write I unto you, that
you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he's
the propitiation for our sins. Come handle him. Let us therefore
come boldly to the throne of grace, the mercy seat, that we
may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. This
veil was rent precisely at the moment when the Son of God died
upon the cursed tree. And when the veil was rent, the
cherubim, magnificently, with cunning work
and gold, embroidered in the veil, were rent with it. Because when Christ died, we
died. When the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, paid the debt owed to divine justice, we paid the
debt we owed to God in Him. When the Lord Jesus arose, we
arose in Him. And when He sat down in heaven,
we sat down in heaven with Him. This veil being rent testifies
that all the law And the justice of God, being fully satisfied,
calls for mercy upon every sinner for whom Christ died. God has
unbarred the door. God himself, with his own hands,
has taken the bar off the door. John said, I behold, and the
door was opened in heaven. And God Almighty throws the door
open for sinners to come in with freedom of excess, promising
him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. Oh, God,
give me grace then constantly to take hold on Christ Jesus
and enter in into God himself. and handle Him who is life everlasting
and know His mercy and His grace as it can be known only by believing
on the Son of God. Amen.