One aspect of Christ’s humanity is that of a screen. In His humanity the Person revealed, described, and portrayed in the four Gospels was a screen. If we read the Gospels from this angle, we shall see that Christ is a screen keeping all the negative things away from God’s dwelling place. The life described in the four Gospels is such a screen. Every negative thing and every negative person is screened out. The Pharisees and the Sadducees were screened out by the Person of Jesus Christ. Because the Lord Jesus was a screen, the Pharisees and Sadducees could not enter into the enjoyment of God.
Whenever a sinner meets the perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus, he is either screened out, or he is subdued and convinced to believe in Christ. If he believes in Him, the screen will immediately become an entrance through which he may come into the Holy Place, where he begins to enjoy God in Christ and to participate in the rich enjoyment of what Christ is. In the Holy Place such a redeemed sinner can enjoy Christ as the life supply, as enlightenment, and as his acceptance by God. This is not a mere doctrine; rather, it is a description of our experience. From experience we know that redeemed sinners can pass through the screen, enter the Holy Place, and enjoy all the riches of God in Christ.
After a period of time enjoying the riches in the Holy Place, a believer begins to realize that behind the veil there is something deeper, richer, and higher. He also realizes that his fallen nature, the flesh, is a separation, a veil. Even though he has enjoyed a rich portion of the Lord, now he knows that there is something richer that he is not yet able to touch because of this separating veil. Eventually, he sees in the Bible that Christ’s death not only deals with his sins, but also deals with the flesh. The Lord’s death has rent, torn, the flesh. Spontaneously, by the indwelling Spirit, such a believer crucifies his flesh; that is, he puts his fallen nature to death. Furthermore, the Spirit works to arrange circumstances which will cause him to be put into death. In this way he experientially passes through the riven veil. The chorus of a hymn says,
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
I have passed the riven veil,
Here the glories never fail.
Hymns,#551
We may sing these words in a very superficial way without realizing what they mean. If we would pass through the riven veil, we need both the Spirit working within and the coordination of the circumstances outwardly. This is why in Romans 8 we have the Spirit and also all things (v. 28). The Spirit and all things work together to put us into the death of Christ so that we may pass through the riven veil and thereby enter into the Holy of Holies to enjoy God in full.
We have pointed out again and again that the two curtains, the screen and the veil, were attached to pillars. This indicates that today people can have an entrance into the enjoyment of God. Yes, Christ in His all-inclusive death is the entrance. Nevertheless, the entrance requires pillars to bear the testimony of the incarnated and crucified Christ. Without these pillars there is no way for the Christ who is the entrance into the enjoyment of God to be revealed to man. This means that there would be no place where He could show Himself to others. In the four Gospels Christ was the entrance into the enjoyment of God. But on the day of Pentecost the testimony of this Christ was borne by the one hundred twenty in Jerusalem. If it were not for the believers who bore the testimony of the incarnated and crucified Christ on the day of Pentecost, how could Christ reveal Himself to the people, and where could He be revealed? Would He be revealed on a mountain, or on the throne in the heavens? It is a fact that if there were no pillars to bear Him, He could not reveal Himself. Thus, on the day of Pentecost Christ was attached to the one hundred twenty, and they became pillars bearing the testimony of Christ. Therefore, it was possible for Christ to reveal Himself to sinners.
The three thousand who were added to the Lord on the day of Pentecost entered into the dwelling place of God, that is, into the enjoyment of God, not only through Christ Himself, but also through the one hundred twenty. These one hundred twenty had been attached to Christ, identified with Him. Thus, they and Christ were one. For this reason, the three thousand who believed on the day of Pentecost could enter into the enjoyment of God through Christ and through the one hundred twenty.
In the book of Acts we have the experience of the Holy Place and also the experience of the Holy of Holies. The so-called communal life recorded in chapters two and four is a life in the Holy Place. The first several chapters of Acts are a description of the enjoyment of Christ in the Holy Place. We know this by the fact that the flesh, the fallen nature, of certain believers still had not been dealt with. For example, Acts 6:1 says that “there was a murmuring of the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were overlooked in the daily dispensing.” Even though the believers had all things in common, they were still murmuring and striving. Having all things in common did not prevent quarreling and fighting. Thus, after chapter six of Acts, there is no further mention of the communal life. Because of the flesh, the communal living did not last. Furthermore, in Acts 5 we have the record of what was done by Ananias and Sapphira. We could say that they did not remain in the Holy Place, but went back to the outer court. Eventually, after a long period of time, we can find in Acts the implication that certain believers became not only the pillars at the entrance of the church life, but the pillars in the inner chamber. Through these pillars the saints who were living in the Holy Place had a way to enter into the Holy of Holies.