Behind the curtain

 Behind the Curtain

The LORD said to Moses, “Warn your brother, Aaron, not to enter the Most Holy Place behind the inner curtain whenever he chooses; if he does, he will die. For the Ark’s cover — the place of atonement — is there, and I myself am present in the cloud above the atonement cover.”

LEVITICUS 16.2

Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

MARK 15.37-38

Dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.

HEBREWS 10.19-20

When you go to someone’s house, you usually wait to be invited in. But there may be some people you know well enough that you don’t even have to knock when you visit them. You are welcome to walk right in.

In Old Testament times there was a curtain in the Temple, and God’s presence was behind the curtain. But people could not walk right in behind the curtain. According to the rules in the Old Testament, only one person — a priest — could go behind the curtain, and he could only go in once a year. Not just anyone could go directly into God’s presence, because people’s sins separated them from God.

But that changed the day — the very moment — Jesus died. That day the Temple curtain that had separated people from God was ripped from top to bottom. It wasn’t ripped by any person, but by God himself. In that culture, people expressed their sorrow by tearing their clothes. It was almost as if the dwelling place of God was so saddened by the death of Jesus that it tore its clothing. At the same time, it was as if God was throwing open the door to his house and welcoming us in. Because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross in paying for our sin, there is no longer a barrier of sin between God and his people.