Wisdom's Corner
The Torn Curtain

Many people around the world live in homes with windows. The windows allow the light from the sun to get into the house. They also allow the people inside to see outside. If the window is open the wind can blow into the house and cool it. Or someone can actually climb out through the window or climb in through the window.

But there are times when the people inside the house do not want people outside the house to see what is going on inside the house. So, many windows have curtains. The curtains hang from a rod over the window. The curtains can be pulled from one side to the other side of the window. This blocks out the view so that people outside the house cannot see into the house.

The temple of God in Jerusalem in Jesus' day had such a curtain. In fact, there were two curtains. One of them hung between the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place. Only the high priest could go through this curtain into the Holy of Holies.

The other curtain hung on the doorway which led into the temple building from the main courtyard around the temple. This curtain did not allow people who were not Jews to see into the area where sacrifices were taking place. This was a symbol of the fact that only the Jews were God's chosen people.

But God had said through his prophet Isaiah that the curtain(vail) would be removed by Jesus, "And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations"(Isaiah 25:7; read verses 6 through 8). This happened in Matthew 27:51 when the curtain(veil) was torn from top to bottom when Christ died on the cross.

If the inner curtain is the one that was torn(the commonly held belief), it now was open to let any priest have access to God. If the outer curtain was the one torn, it was now open, allowing any person to see into the temple. The point made by God is that through Christ we can all have access to the Father.

Thanks to Christ, all people on earth can now be God's chosen people. All they have to do is obey His Word, the Bible. They must live right and worship Him right.

Mark McWhorter

Copyright 1998

Published by The Old Paths Bible School
(http://www.oldpaths.org)