Temple Veil

Biblical Texts

• Exodus 26:31-33: God commands Moses to make a veil. It is to be woven of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twined linen, with cherubim (angelic beings; see Seraphim and Cherubim) worked into it. The veil is hung on four pillars of acacia wood to divide the Holy Place of the tabernacle from the Most Holy Place, and the Ark of the Covenant is placed behind it. The veil's construction is recorded in 36:35-36, and its installation in 40:21.
• Leviticus 4:6; chapter 16: The priest sprinkles the blood of the sin offering seven times before the veil. Only the high priest could enter behind the veil, and only on the Day of Atonement, bringing incense and blood.
• 2 Chronicles 3: According to verse 14, Solomon's temple also had a veil woven of the same materials with cherubim worked into it.
• Synoptic Gospels: When Jesus died, "the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom" (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38). Luke 23:45 describes the same event: "the veil of the temple was rent in the midst."
• Hebrews: Hebrews 9:3 describes the Most Holy Place as lying "after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all." Hebrews 6:19-20 says that Jesus entered within the veil as a forerunner, and 10:19-20 speaks of "a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil."

Background

The Hebrew term paroketh refers only to the veil before the Most Holy Place. The screen hung at the entrance of the tabernacle (Exodus 26:36) is designated by a different Hebrew word, but the New Korean Revised Version (Gaeyeok Gaejeong) renders both as hwijang ("veil"), so the two are not easily distinguished in Korean. The Greek term katapetasma is likewise used in the Septuagint for both curtains.

The temple of Jesus' day was the temple as expanded by Herod. The Mishnah, a collection of rabbinic Jewish tradition, preserves a tradition that a double veil hung before the Most Holy Place of this temple.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

In the Old Testament, the veil was a boundary that marked the separation between the holy God and sinful humanity. The New Testament connects the tearing of the veil with the death of Christ. Hebrews explains that through the atonement that Jesus, as high priest, made once for all, a way has been opened for believers to approach God with boldness. Protestants frequently cite this passage as one of the scriptural foundations for the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers.

Interpretations and Debates

• Which veil was torn: The Gospels do not specify whether it was the veil before the Most Holy Place or the curtain at the entrance to the Holy Place. Traditionally it has been understood as the veil before the Most Holy Place. Some scholars have suggested that it may have been the outer curtain, which was visible to the public.
• Meaning of the event: Most churches understand it to signify that the way to God has been opened. Some interpreters also see it as a sign of judgment, announcing the end of the temple sacrificial system and foreshadowing the destruction of the temple. The two interpretations are sometimes held together.
• Hebrews 10:20: In the phrase "through the veil, that is to say, his flesh," interpreters differ on the grammar—whether "flesh" explains the veil or the way.
• Extrabiblical traditions: The explanation that the veil's four colors represent heaven, kingship, blood, and righteousness, respectively, derives from typology (an interpretive approach that reads Old Testament objects as shadows of Christ). It is not stated directly in Scripture, and interpretations vary. Likewise, the claims that the veil was a handbreadth thick, or that horses pulling on it could not tear it, come from later Jewish tradition or sermon illustrations and are not found in the biblical text.

In Korean Churches

The tearing of the veil is frequently cited in sermons during Holy Week and on Good Friday. Some churches and mission organizations also teach about the veil and the Most Holy Place through tabernacle models or expository studies of the tabernacle.