A Significant Curtain

Hebrews 9-Part 1
For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all.     Hebrews 9:2-3

LET IT GLOW
When I was a teenager, I wanted to redo my small bedroom.You see, the walls had been a green all my life and I was sick of it. My sister and I shared the room until she went to college, then got married. I was ready for a change. It was my own room and I wanted it to say so. So I chose a soft pink as the color and Mom hired someone to paint the walls. I had saved up my allowance and bought pink drapes. I loved the difference everything made, but the curtains were especially significant. After all, it was my sanctuary.
In the tabernacle, there was a significant curtain in His sanctuary. Behind it, was God's room. Let's pull back the curtain and see inside.

Moses spent 40 days at Mt. Sinai getting the exact details of how to make the tabernacle and what to place where inside it. Details can be found starting with Exodus 25. Even though this was a tent to be taken down whenever the Hebrews moved, it was also the details of the temple later built in Jerusalem. It was God's room and He wanted it just right, by His design.

There was an outer court and inner court established within the tabernacle. Only priests and Aaron could go into the inner court. Other tribes were not allowed. Within the inner court were two rooms. The first room of the sanctuary, was also called the Holy Place. The second room, called the Holy of Holies, was the place into which only the high priest could enter once a year, on the Day of Atonement. Now there was a curtain which seperated the two rooms of the sanctuary.
This curtain was made of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, with cherubim worked into it by a skilled craftsman (Exodus 26:31). It was to be hung with gold hooks on 4 posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold and standing on 4 silver bases. This curtain seperated the two rooms of the sanctuary, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.
This vail, in Hebrew is the word  paroketh, means separation, curtain. (Young's Concordance) 
(We spell the word in our English language veil. )
What is so significant about the veil?
The veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom when Jesus died.

The MacArthur Bible Commentary  says this about Mark 27:51:
Th tearing of the veil signifies that the way into God's presence is now open to all through a new and living way (Heb. 10:19-22). The fact that it tear "from top to bottom" shows that no person split the veil. God did it.

"That declaration, 'It is finished,' by Jesus on the cross, explains why the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom. Jesus had paid the penalty of sin, and thus there was no longer a barrier between God and man. He Himself had said, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life' (John 14:6). This veil was a heavy curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, which the book of Hebrews relates typologically to Christ (Heb. 10:19-20), according to Liberty Bible Commentary.

Verse 3 talks about the second veil, so this vel between the Holy of Holies is the second veil. then where was the first veil? After much searching, I found the answer in the Jamieson, Fausset, Brown Commentary: The first veil or curtain was before the tabernacle door. The Hebrew word is calumma.
(This is where the people would enter the tabernacle.)
Because of Jesus Christ, we Gentiles have direct access to Jehovah our God. Jesus is my High Priest, who made the blood sacrifice of Himself, which met the requirements for my sins. He is my Intercessor. There is nothing blocking my enterance into the throne room.

LET IT GROW


Verses 1 and 2 use the word sanctuary. It is a house consecrated to the worship of God; a place where divine service is performed (Ps.73); separateness, holiness of God, of places, of things; innermost room.
Beth Moore, in her study "A Woman's Heart" defines sanctuary as a consecrated or holy thing or place; a hallowed part, like a chapel; an asylum; an area devoted to the sphere of the sacred.

It was the place where God chose to dwell with His people. (Beth Moore)

It was the Holy Place, the first room of the tabernacle. (Ex. 26:33). (MacArthur)

What was inside the Holy Place, sanctuary? There were three pieces of furniture:
1. The candlestick, which was a lampstand holding 7 lamps, with wicks that were trimmed daily, was
    not a candle. It gave light to the priests, since there were no windows.
    Jesus is the light of the world, in John 8:12.
    Believers are to shine as lights in the world (Phil. 2:14-15).
2. The table of showbread, which contained 12 loaves or cakes of bread that were replaced each
    Sabbaht. Priests were allowed to eat the bread, but only there. These loaves were called "the bread
    of presence," since it reminded the 12 tribes of God's presence that sustained them.
    Jesus is the bread of life to the whole world (John 6).
3. The incense altar-on the Day of Atonement, the high priest used coals from this altar to
    burn incense before the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies. Each morning and evening fresh coals
    were placed on the altar so its fragrance would continue to enter the Holy of Holies.
    I reminds us that Jesus intercedes for us (Rom. 833-34).

This was an inferior Old Covenant sanctuary. Warren Wiersbe tells us why:

• It was an earthly sanctuary (verse 1). It was made and pitched by man.
• It was a type of something greater (verses 2-5). The parts and furnishings each had a spiritual meaning.
• It was inaccessible to the people. Only priests and Levites were permitted in the tabernacle to worship. No one from the other tribes were allowed in.
• It was temporary. God's work of salvationn for man had not yet been completed.
• It's ministry was external, not internal. The heart or conscience of a worshipper could never be changed with the sacrifice offered and the blood applied.

In our next lesson, we will look at the heavenly sanctuary, which is sufficient through the New Covenant sanctuary and the Holy of Holies with items of gold.


LET IT GO

Lord prepare me, to be Your sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true;
With thanksgiving, I'll be Your living sanctuary, for You.

Bring the Light to the darkness and Bread to the spiritualy hungry.