When the Lord Jesus was crucified, God tore the veil to open the way to the Holy of Holies. Matthew 27:51 says, “Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom.” This signifies that the separation between God and man was abolished, because the flesh (signified by the veil) of sin taken by Christ in its likeness (Rom. 8:3) had been crucified (Heb. 10:20). The words “from the top to the bottom” indicate that the tearing of the veil was God’s doing from above. Because sin had been judged and the flesh of sin had been crucified, the separation between God and man was taken away. Now the way to enter into the presence of God is open for us.
Hebrews 10:19 and 20 also speak of God’s tearing the veil to open the way for us to enter into the Holy of Holies: “Having therefore, brothers, boldness for entering the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He dedicated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh.” The Holy of Holies today is in heaven, where the Lord Jesus is (Heb. 9:12, 24). How, then, can we enter it while we are still on earth? The secret is our spirit (Heb. 4:12). The Christ who is in heaven is also now in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22). He, as the heavenly ladder (Gen. 28:12; John 1:51), joins our spirit to heaven and brings heaven into our spirit. Whenever we turn to our spirit, we enter into the Holy of Holies, and here we meet with God who is on the throne of grace.
According to Hebrews 10:20, we enter the Holy of Holies by a new and living way, which Christ dedicated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh. The way into the Holy of Holies has been cut. The Greek word translated “new” in this verse means freshly slain. Through Christ’s death on the cross, the way has been freshly slain for us. What was slain? Not only the flesh but the entire old creation. In this verse, the veil, which is Christ’s flesh, signifies the old creation, including us. On the veil were cherubim (Exo. 26:31), which signify the creatures (Ezek. 10:15). When the veil was torn, the cherubim were also torn, signifying that when the flesh of Christ, which is typified by the veil, was crucified, all the creatures also were crucified with His flesh. We have seen that when the Lord Jesus died, the veil in the temple was torn from the top to the bottom, meaning that it was torn by God in the heavens. The old creation has been slain, and a new and living way to enter into the Holy of Holies has been opened by God. Now through the riven veil of the flesh and by the blood of Jesus we can enter into the Holy of Holies.
The veil in Hebrews 10:20 is the second veil (Heb. 9:3) within the tabernacle which, as we have seen, typifies the flesh of Christ. When Christ’s flesh was crucified, this veil was torn, thus opening the way for us, who were excluded from God signified by the tree of life (Gen. 3:22-24), to enter into the Holy of Holies to contact Him and take Him as the tree of life for our enjoyment.
When Christ was crucified, God wiped out the handwriting in ordinances, nailing it to the cross. Speaking of God, Colossians 2:14 says, “Wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us, which was contrary to us; and He has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.” The Greek word rendered “wiping out” can also be translated blotting out, obliterating, erasing, or annulling (a decree of law). The Greek word for “handwriting” denotes a legal document, a bond. Here it refers to the written law. The ordinances, or decrees, refer to the ceremonial law with its rituals, the forms or ways of living and worship. These ordinances God has taken out of the way by nailing them to the cross. This is to abolish the law of the commandments in ordinances (Eph. 2:15).
Ordinances, rituals, and ceremonies of the law have been crucified in Christ’s death. Not only were sin, the natural man, the world, and Satan crucified; the law was also crucified. As evil men were putting Christ on the cross, God was nailing the law to the cross. Although the law had been given by God through angels, God Himself nailed it to the cross of Christ. Just as sin has been condemned (Rom. 8:3), so the law has been crucified. God does not want the law to remain in between Christ and us. What He desires is for us to live together with the risen Christ without any interruption.
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