And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split. (Matt 27:50-51).
When one thinks of the miraculous events surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion, perhaps the veil of the temple being torn is not the first one that comes to mind. That said, this event is highly significant in that it symbolizes some very important changes that took place as the new covenant was ushered in, with the old covenant fulfilled.
Jeremiah 31:31-34 promised that the days of the old covenant would come to an end:
Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.
One only need to read the book of Hebrews to see that Jesus indeed did establish this new and “better” covenant, enacted after His death (Heb. 8:6, 13; 9:16-17).
To examine the significance of this event, and that it symbolized the total transition from old covenant to new, think about the tabernacle (and subsequently the temple) of the Old Testament. The tabernacle and the temple consisted of an outer court, an inner court known as the Holy Place (containing the lampstand, the table, and the showbread), and an innermost chamber called the Most Holy Place (or Holy of Holies, containing the ark of the covenant, where the glory of God rested). Between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place was the veil, separating the two (Exo. 26:3-34, especially verse 33 cf. Heb. 9:1-5). Only the high priest was allowed to enter the Most Holy Place, and this once a year to atone for the sins of himself and the people on the Day of Atonement (Exo. 30:10; Lev. 16:1-34); the priesthood otherwise conducted lesser sacrifices in the Holy Place throughout the year (Heb. 9:6-7).
All of this in the Old Testament was symbolic of what our ultimate High Priest, Jesus Christ, accomplished when He entered the Holiest of all (heaven), having sacrificed Himself on the cross for our ultimate atonement (Heb. 9:8-28). The difference between the Old Testament high priest and Jesus Christ is that the Old Testament high priest had to make offerings for his own sins, while Jesus never sinned once (Heb. 4:15). Also, as stated in Hebrews 9:25-28, Jesus did not have to enter the Most Holy Place multiple times (as the old covenant high priest did every year), but “was offered once to bear the sins of many.” Thus, Jesus is “the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance” (Heb. 9:15).
The veil of the temple being torn in two represents the fact that Jesus accomplished forever what the Old Testament high priests could never do: full and absolute atonement. The child of God today is not left waiting for next year’s Day of Atonement. Instead, we look back to the ultimate fulfillment of the Day of Atonement in Christ’s once-forall sacrifice. There is, then, a sharp distinction between old covenant and new, just as promised in Jeremiah chapter 31. Christians must note that there can be no going back to the old once we have been blessed with the new, which incidentally is the theme of the book of Hebrews.
While other miracles surrounding the crucifixion of Christ perhaps come to mind first, Christians really should not overlook the significance of the rending of the temple veil. We really should ponder often the significance of what Christ’s sacrifice accomplished: complete atonement for sin, once and for all.
-Chase Green