Jesus, The Veil

by

Meriam Matthews

2002

It is only in retrospect I saw all the blood. From the first blood sacrifice in the Garden of Eden where God provided animal skins to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve, to the last Sacrifice of Jesus, the unbroken trail of blood leading through mankind’s sins didn’t deviate; there was a straight line through the Old Testament to the New, ending abruptly at the Cross. Jesus was the final Sacrifice, His blood the last God wanted to be shed in order to redeem mankind from the sinful state in which it found itself since the Fall (Genesis, Chapter 3).

Shedding the life essence, the blood, meant that the giver of the blood, willing or not, had to die, because there is no redemption from sin without the death of the sacrificial creature. "¹⁶For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. ¹⁷For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. ¹⁸Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood." (Hebrews 9:16-18) There was so much blood staining the pages of Biblical history; rivers of it. I wanted to know the meaning of it, so I asked the Holy Spirit for understanding. Graciously, He gave it to me to the degree it offered spiritual satisfaction. I am certain there is more to be learned about this, but this was a good start.

Earlier in Biblical history, God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, whom he loved so dearly. “¹After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ²He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” (Gen. 22:1-2)

Abraham ultimately did not have to shed Isaac’s blood because God stayed Abraham’s hand, but Abraham was willing to do it – in faith. “¹⁷By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, ¹⁸Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: ¹⁹Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.” (Hebrews 11:17-19)

From then on, God demanded blood sacrifices from animals; bulls, rams, calves, goats, lambs. God was mercifully willing to let animals be the blood donors to atone for man’s sinful state. “And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD.”( Exodus 30:10)

This "veil", which was more than 2" thick, was the very veil that was "rent from top to bottom" when Jesus died on the cross. The veil, which in the Exodus period had separated man from God in the Tabernacle in the wilderness, was now gone, permitting access by man directly to God without need of a human intermediary or priest. The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus' flesh was "the veil" (Heb.10:20), and that when it was "torn", all barriers to God were removed.