The holy of holies was the innermost of the three compartments of the tabernacle.  But before entering the holy of holies we see that the way is barred completely by a heavy veil, or curtain, which forbids anyone to enter except the high priest once a year on the day of atonement with the shed blood taken from the altar of burnt offering.  For him to enter at any other time meant immediate death, or to enter without blood meant death.  All others were barred, and not even the common priesthood was allowed to enter in, and any attempt to enter meant certain death.  So before we can enter into the place of the ark, the veil must be taken care of.  Behind this veil is the ark, the symbol of the throne of Almighty God.  But it is a throne of judgment because a Holy God shines above the throne, and in the ark itself is that which condemns the sinner before God.  In this ark was a copy of the broken law which God had given to Moses in the mountain, and that law speaks of judgment, condemnation and death for the sinner.

Only once a year, on the day of atonement, the high priest was permitted to enter, but it had to be repeated and repeated and repeated, for it was never, never accomplished and finished and done.  The veil still remained, for there could be no final putting away of sin, except by the sacrifice of Jesus.  The veil which barred the way to God was the body of Christ.  Hebrews 10:20 tells us that we can now come: "by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body."

This statement sheds a great deal of light on the purpose of the tabernacle service.  We have here the New Testament interpretation of the meaning of the veil which hung between the holy place and the holy of holies.  It speaks of the perfect, sinless, holy humanity of Jesus.  He was perfect in all things, and kept God's law in every detail.  God will not and cannot allow anyone into His presence who is not absolutely perfect because He is holy.  He is so holy that none but perfectly sinless ones can ever approach Him.  Until we are as holy of Jesus Himself was, we cannot enter into the presence of God.  The body, the sinless humanity of Jesus, reminds us of what we must be if we are to be received into His presence.  The veil, representing the body of Christ in His perfect humanity according to Hebrews hung between us and God as a sign, "KEEP OUT" and "NO ADMITTANCE."

And then "When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under law" (Galatians 4:4-5).  He veiled Himself in human flesh, and in that human body He took our sins to the Cross of Calvary.  He paid the penalty, and His perfect, sinless body was broken as He finished the work, and cried, "It is finished."  And Matthew 27:50-51 tells us what happened to the veil which represented His perfect flesh:  "And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.  At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  The earth shook and the rocks split."

The veil was torn from the top to the bottom, not from the bottom to the top.  It was not the work of man, but the work of Almighty God.  The Lord Himself was satisfied with the offering which Jesus made of Himself on the Cross of Calvary, and when He cried, "It is finished," God was completely reconciled.  And to prove that it was finished, God tore the veil of separation from top to bottom and opened the holy of holies for all who by faith are clothed in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It was a heaven sent miracle.  No human hand could have done the work of tearing the veil.  Rabbinical writers tell us that the veil was so firmly woven that two teams of oxen pulling in opposite directions, with the veil between them, could not tear it apart.  Neither could the veil be repaired because it was torn by God's hand, from heaven.  Tradition also tells us that the priests tried to mend and sew the veil together again, but were unable to because no thread, no cord, would hold in the repaired part.  It was torn once for all, and forever.

This is a picture of the perfect work of reconciliation of Jesus.  He took our sins, the only barrier between God and man and bore them in the body of HIs flesh to Calvary, and put them all away by His own precious blood, and opened the way into the very presence of God.  This is the lesson of the torn veil, the way of access to God.  (See Hebrews 9:2-4,6-9,11-12,23-26).