What I Am Doing You Do Not Know Now But You Will Know Later. Part 2

At the end of Part 1 we were speaking of the bronze basin/laver in the Mishkan …

The bronze basin /laver stood near to the altar of sacrifice in the courtyard (Jesus/Yeshua being the sacrifice), and the priest would wash their hands and feet before ascending the altar to perform a sacrifice.

He was required to only wash hands and feet, the rest of the body being covered by the linen/righteousness the robes of office conferred.

These robes are now the robes of righteousness that we are clothed in as garments of salvation that all wedding guests must be wearing.

2Cor 5:21 Christ took all our sin and guilt; we received His perfect righteousness, in right standing … We stand before a Holy God dressed in robes of righteousness without spot or wrinkle.

Is 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

We see Joshua the High Priest clothed with robe of righteousness. Zec 3:1, 3-4: Behold, I have removed you iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.

The robe of righteousness is fine, LINEN, clean and bright, the robe which the entire Bride of Christ will be clothed with.

Rev 19:8: And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

His is dipped in blood…

Rev 19:13: And he was clothed with a robe dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

The atonement is for all the saints – all those who’ve been redeemed by the blood of the lamb.

The wrong garment means not washed/sanctified prior to putting on holy garments to minister before the Lord. Reference to the wedding guest wearing the wrong garment.

The high priest served the people before God.

Jesus/Yeshua served people before God as our

High Priest

and He was/is the agent of washing us clean.

Just as He as High Priest was washing Peter clean.

He fulfilled the need of the Brazen basin/laver in full washing to be made holy.

https://www.minimannamoments.com/the-season-of-our-hiding/

However, the Lord instructed Moses regarding the bronze washbasin/laver used by the priest during this service in the Mishkan. The washbasin stood near the altar of sacrifice in the courtyard and the priest washed their hands and feet before ascending the altar to perform a sacrifice.

(Who can ascend the hill of the Lord/holy of holies but he who has clean hands and a pure heart.)

The foundation of Gods throne/His presence, is repentance and judgment, righteousness and justice. It is not emotion, it is love which is truth, Messiah is the TRUTH.

John 14:9 KJV: Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that … If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also:

He was the express image of all that God has laid out in Scripture which spoke of Him the coming Messiah.

Be washed/sanctified before entering the kingdom of God and through Jesus the Door/dalet.

The Door of the sheep

The Laver was placed between the altar /repentance (where a death was demanded)

and the tabernacle/ the kingdom and that is the Lord.

By the spirit Jesus/Yeshua was giving Peter the message;

(washed [leloumenos, bathed] )

cleansing/washed/sanctification before performing the sacrifice and entering the presence of God.

The altar was His cross and the seed/Himself had to die to become alive/resurrection and the burial/ death in water /immersion and purification had to precede in its order of Gods pattern. 

Peters’ desire for Jesus/Yeshua to wash his hands and head also, John 13 :1– 18 and not only his feet is a reference to the role of the bronze laver/the wash basin in the Mishkan of which He was a type and shadow and Peter wanted to be completely Holy and prepared to minister and enter into the Holy place.

John the Baptist had also declared it ..

Repent – here is the altar or death to sin

And be baptized everyone of you – here is the laver

In the name of Jesus/Yeshua the anointed for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of Ruach HaKodesh.

Acts 2:38…

And following 50 days of omer, which is a time of preparation of inner self, to Shavuot/Pentecost and receiving the promise of His Ruach/Presence.

This Appointed Time of Shavuot, commemorated receiving the covenant of Marriage/Betrothal and the Torah/Word of God /Jesus/Yeshua Himself /His Ruach/Spirit descending to be with us forever in the sanctuary of our physical bodies and no longer in the Sanctuary/Temple which was the pattern of the Mishkan.

Remember the disciples were told to wait?….They were counting the Omer according to the Appointed times of the Lord..

We must be born of water and spirit before entering the tabernacle, the kingdom of God/kingdom of the heavens. John 3:5

Laver a place of cleansing – just as baptism was a place and act of repentance and cleansing from sin.

Ex 30:21 so shall they wash their hands and feet that they die not and it shall be a statute for ever to them even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.

There is room for everyone who will accept the High Priest Jesus/Yeshua by being born of water and spirit and be willing to come to the door/dalet of the tabernacle and then enter in.

A Robe of Righteousness was worn once a year into the Holy of Holies to place blood on the kapporet /seat of mercies. No shoes were worn, because the ground was Holy. The presence of the Lord was there so it became Holy ground, just as it was to Moses at the burning bush. Wherever His presence is, it becomes Holy.

Peter wanted his hands and head to be washed and sanctified in the sense of full purification and indeed it was coming.

(What I do now you will know later.)

Jesus/Yeshua was about to make the Way into the holy presence of the father by His own death, sacrifice for all, access through His blood. The forgiveness of sins taking His blood to the mercy seat in the kingdom of the Heavens.

What I do now you will know later.

The process God gave Moses, along with the format of the way to prepare to enter the presence of God, was the pattern and the only way, until Jesus/Yeshua came and said,

I Am the Way;

because He fulfilled the format/ Pattern given to Moses by His sacrificial death. And not only are we redeemed but we are sanctified made holy/set apart and therefore able to enter His presence. Relationship has been restored with our heavenly father, He was the restorer of the breach Isaiah.

For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” 6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant He mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. Heb. 8:7-12

Improved, added to – line upon line….

 

Jesus saith to him, He that is

washed [leloumenos, bathed

needeth not save to

wash [nipsasthoi, to wash

his feet,

but is clean every whit:

and ye are clean, but not all.

John 13:10

 

HERE we have the most significant point….because

Jesus/Yeshua used two different words, but both are translated by the English word wash.

In those days a person returning from one of the many public baths where he had bathed, got his feet defiled on the way from the bath house to his home. There was placed at the door of his home a basin to rinse the feet.

This had been omitted, for some reason, the night that the disciples entered the Upper Room.

Jesus/Yeshua arose, took the basin,

and began

to wash (niptein, to wash)

the disciples’ feet.

We know the atoning blood of Messiah cleanses from sin — all sin — and the sin of the saved souls is fully dealt with at the cross.

However we are still working out our salvation daily and daily have to deal with sin in a continual attitude of repentance. Just as the priests daily washed and cleansed themselves from sins using the Laver we are to cleanse ourselves in the Laver of Jesus/Yeshua coming to Him daily in repentance. Our past sin has been

washed [leloumenos, bathed

through His cleansing blood and through immersion we have been made Holy….

but sin in the believer breaks communion with God, and on the basis of His death, He can wash/ cleanse every child who comes to Him in repentant confession.

(wash [nipsasthoi, to wash]) 

As the disciples placed their defiled feet in His hands for cleansing, today we come in confession of our sins and, by so doing,

place our soiled feet in the nail-pierced hands of our Savior who cleanses us from all defilement.

needeth not save to

wash [nipsasthoi, to wash

his feet…

Fellowship is then restored with the Father.

On the way from the cross to the crown our feet get soiled, but if we confess our sins, He takes the basin and girds Himself with the LINEN/Righteousness, towel again, and cleanses us from all sin.

How humbling to know that our Lord is girded with a LINEN towel, and that with basin in hand He keeps us clean, if we place our feet in His hands by confessing our sins.

The laver spoke of this heavenly ministry of Messiah.

The laver stood between the altar and the Holy Place, where the curtain of separation was, the same that was rent at the time of His death.

The cleansing of believers by confession stands between the cross and the continual communion of the Father with His children.

The altar was for a sinner; the laver was for a sin.

The altar was where the sinner needed punishment;

The laver was where the child needed cleansing.

The altar spoke of blood; the laver spoke of water.

The altar suggests this verse of Scripture: “…Without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22);

the laver points to this: “Without holiness no man shall see God.”

and the meaning of the laver as it dealt with the sin in the life of the believer.

This then contains a twofold application. The first applies to the earth and is the work of His Ruach HaKodesh/Holy Spirit. The second applies to heaven and is the WORK of the cross through Messiah and are both in relationship to the believer.

The brazen altar speaks of His death;

the brazen laver speaks of His resurrection.

At the brazen altar is forgiveness of sin;

at the brazen laver is imputation of righteousness,

“[Christ] was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:25).

Then only the priests had access to the Laver, whereas the bronze altar was accessible to all. According to scripture we are now priests so we have access to Jesus/Yeshua/The Laver.

 

There was cleansing by blood – pointing to justification and there was cleansing by water – pointing to sanctification.

The priests were obliged to wash their hands and their feet before entering God’s presence, to disobey would mean death (Ex.30:19-21).

Here Jesus/Yeshua was telling them He was making the WAY.

However looking a little deeper…reveals more amazing significance… 

 

There was no floor in the court or the tabernacle therefore the priests feet would be defiled by the constant contact with the earth and the hands by the work at the altar and other work. Therefore they had to wash before any ministry at the altar, to make them clean before communion with God and before service to man.

At their consecration the priests were washed all over at the Laver before being clothed with priestly garments and anointed (Exodus 29:4-7).

They did not wash themselves at their consecration, but were washed by someone else (Lev.8:6).

Just as Messiah washes us as we are consecrated to His service.

Leviticus 8:6). That washing was for all time.

It was never repeated (perhaps a symbol of baptism? Heb. 10:22) and afterwards the priests had to wash their own hands and feet as there was to be a continual and daily cleansing at the laver.

The blood of Christ cleanses the believing sinner from all sin, but in his daily walk and service he becomes defiled and needs cleansing. His Holy Spirit indwells each believer, but sin keeps His Ruach from helping us achieve our full potential. He reveals the pathway of victory and gives power to our lives when conditions are met.

The Laver was made from the freewill gift of bronze mirrors made by the women (Ex.38:8) and enabled the priests to see their reflection.

The thought of God’s word being a Laver is seen in the New Testament, when Paul in Ephesians 5:26 writes “that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word”(NASB).

The Greek word used there translated as washing is “loutron” which means Laver and is the Greek word used in the Septuagint for the Laver in the court of the tabernacle. If in the passage we were to put the word Laver it would read

“that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the Laver of water, with the word”.

This gives the real insight of the verse,

a standing in the place of sanctification

that comes through the word of God.

For us it is through Yeshua/Jesus the Living Word.

The cleansing power of God’s word is also see in Psalm 119:9, John 15:3, 1 Peter 1:22. When we come to the Word of God, the Bible, so it is to us a mirror for our soul that will cleanse us if we are willing to apply its purifying water to our lives.

The Laver water was required also for the washing of the inward parts of the sacrifices (Lev.1:9,13) and so it is that our inner thoughts and motives need divine cleansing.

That cleansing washing was a prerequisite to entering into His presence, and still is now, we are cleansed and washed by the water of the word. Eph.5:26.

This is why it is important to read The WORD, it continually cleanses us, and remember when He spoke they only had the old Testament the new had not yet been written down.

Yeshua/Jesus is the living word and we are washed by Him and by the water of His words and by the blood of the lamb – the water and the blood.

As a nation of priests, a holy set apart nation into which we are grafted, whose hands and feet are washed. It is with clean hands and a pure heart that we are to ascend to the holy place, the hill of the Lord.

Peter would have understood the pattern of the Tabernacle given to Moses that they all followed and desired to be totally clean as that process required. He would understand later, post resurrection, that Jesus/Yeshua has fulfilled the laws of purification to completion. That no more sacrifice was needed and that He as our high priest, is able to wash, purify and cleanse us daily and then to clothe us with garments of salvation and a robe of righteousness.

This does not mean we have nothing to do, we are responsible to apply His word and keep His commandments and daily take up our cross, yoking ourselves with Jesus/Yeshua and crucifying the flesh, the natural desires.

Verse 8 He clearly tells us this is the only WAY we can be clean.

Unless I would wash you, you have no part with me!

And in verse 10

So He was saying you are ready to enter the holy place and as I wash your feet physically, the cross will make the WAY into His presence permanent.

Peter wanted to be clean by asking for his hands and head to be washed also in reference to the immersion for purification in preparation for them to enter the Holy place with their bodies as sanctuaries of the Holy Spirit.

(immersion for purification which is also called baptism; all of John’s and Jesus/Yeshua’s disciples were familiar with immersion which always followed repentance.)

The furniture found in the court, speak of an atoning sacrifice and of a cleansing as a preparation to enter into God’s presence. The same is true today to be able to come into God’s presence, to have a relationship with God we must identify ourselves with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and be cleansed of the sin that makes the relationship with a holy God impossible.

V 10 is a ref to immersion for purification, which is also called baptism, in preparation for them to enter the Holy Place; with their bodies as sanctuaries of His Ruach HaKodesh/Holy Spirit. Immersion is the translation of both the

Heb R H T rahats/ rachatz רחץ

wash in order to remove impurity,

nothing but full-body immersion is intended

and in GK. baptidzo.

Flowing water had to be used for Immersion so it would come from sources such as a stream, spring or rainwater caught in a cistern. A mikveh which is for purification is where individual goes completely under the water 7x. (2Kings 5:10).

Most immersions were self-immersions, at the Jordan river John and his disciples would stand on the bank preaching, as people repented they would go into the river and immerse themselves with the one preaching still on the bank. Acts 2:14 – 42. As with Philip and the eunuch in Acts 8:38 some were immersed by others; on these occasions the person doing the immersing put a hand on the head of the one being immersed to hold them under the water; this forced a struggle to come up out of the water as a reminder of the dying to self and the new birth, symbolic of the struggle at birth by a newborn baby.

Around the city there were many mikvehs and the Temple in Jerusalem had multiple ritual baths where in Acts 2 it would only have taken about 20 minutes to immerse all 3000. In Jesus/Yeshua’s day each synagogue, had one or more ritual baths/immersion pools for immersion.

These were to be filled with living water from a stream, or even from a roof system to catch rainwater. In John 2:6 there is a reference to stone jars used to carry the water for purification. Normally only a synagogue would have a ritual bath so this wedding was apparently at a synagogue, which in Jesus/Yeshuas day were mostly home synagogues.

link below to

https://www.minimannamoments.com/a-miracle-in-time/

Stone was used because it does not become unclean, metal and glass containers become unclean but can be cleansed, when pottery vessels become unclean they have to be destroyed. The early ecclesia/church always immersed, sprinkling instead of immersion was made official at the Council of Ravenna in 1311 AD.

wash” instead of “bathe”

Hebrew uses the root “ṭaval/tabal” (טבל) for immersion

The Hebrew word for immersion is tevilah and means literally immersing in a ritual bath known as a mikvah.

 Immersion is the act of washing performed to correct a condition of ritual impurity and restore the impure to a state of ritual purity

285 years before John the Baptist was born the Old Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek; and in this translation there were two Hebrew words, “Rahats” and “Tabal,” that must be rendered into Greek, and they both signified the same thing—WASHING or PURIFICATION. With this difference: Rahats signified any washing in things of common life, while Tabal was never used in this sense at all, but to express only purification from sin.

It was a religious ordinance only; hence, these translators find Lono in Greek exactly answering to Rahats in Hebrew, and they substituted the one for the other; but when they look into the Greek for a word answering to “Tabal,” it is not there! 

Why? 

Because the Greeks were heathens, and they had no use for a word that expressed only a religious ordinance of purification from sin.

But the maintaining of that cleanness that is known as righteousness is the responsibility of every believer by the daily exercise of applying Gods word in everyday living, to keep our thoughts and motives pure.

Justification Continued at the Laver. Christ is faithful and just not only to forgive our sins but to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The only place where cleansing was done was at the laver. Immediately after the death of Christ (symbolized at the altar) were His burial and resurrection of which baptism is a memorial. Our burial in the water corresponds to the burial of Christ; our rising out of the water corresponds to His resurrection.

The water in the brazen Laver points to the believer judging himself, unsparingly, by that Word. The Laver of brass presents the inflexible righteousness of Christ/Messiah testing, judging His people, condemning that which mars their communion with God.

The Scriptures show us the only WAY to be clean, is through Jesus/Yeshua.

Let’s be like Peter, desiring Messiah to cleanse us so we can enter into His presence, by placing our soiled feet into His Hands.

For in reality He has washed our feet too just as much as He washed Peters. And He continues to wash them every time we judge ourselves and come before Him in repentance for sin. We are washed, immersion for purification, which is also called baptism; washed [leloumenos, bathed] 

needeth not save to

wash [nipsasthoi, to wash] 

his feet,

It gives another meaning to the scripture that He ever liveth to make intercession for us….not simply the meaning of intercession as prayer. We are to plunge ourselves daily beneath the cleaning flow of His blood and the washing of the water by the Word….

What He did we did not know then …but now it is later and we know!

Shalom, shalom, mishpachah!

You are loved and appreciated and prayed for daily.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read the posts, please share with others, like and subscribe, it all helps to freely spread the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and reaches others with the blessing of His Truths that point us to Our Heavenly Father Through Jesus/Yeshua by the power of His Ruach HaKodesh/Holy Spirit.

A very warm welcome to each and every subscriber/follower/visitor, old and new; and remember that the post is best viewed on the Homepage site in full color!

It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.

You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.

NOT SURE?

YOU CAN BE..

SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen.

Mysteries and Miracles

One mystery miracle that is sometimes overlooked is:

The Rending or Tearing of the Temple Veil.

Recorded in three places in the gospels of Matt 27:51,

“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 tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life” (Matt.27:50-52 NIV). 

Luke 23:45 and Mark 15:38 “Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”

In the Temple, The Holy of Holies is also called the Most Holy Place, inner sanctuary, oracle, and inner house and represented the dwelling place of God here on Earth, or the Throne of God.

It was only to be entered once a year, on the Day of Atonement, and only by the High Priest.

In Solomon’s Temple, the Holy of Holies was 20 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, and 20 cubits high.

(Note: A cubit is approx. 18 inches, so the Holy of Holies in Solomon’s Temple would have been about 30 feet by 30 feet by 30 feet in today’s unit of measurement.) The height of a 6ft man = 4 cubits.

The temple complex was huge and to understand the scale of it, makes the torn veil of greater significance. To get a better idea compare the size of the people.

Entrance into the Holy of Holies.

To enter into the Holy of Holies in Solomon’s Temple, the High Priest had to pass through a curtain, or veil (2 Chr. 3:14), gold chains (1 Kgs. 6:21), and two doors (1 Kgs. 6:31).

The veil separated the Holy Place or Temple, where the High Priest made the sacrifice and the Holy of Holies or Most Holy Place.

The sacred veil or curtain, called the peroketh, represented an inter-dimensional veil that shielded the Unseen, Unfathomable Lord of hosts, from the rest of His creation. 

The curtain in Solomon’s Temple is in 2 Chronicles 3:14: it was described as a “veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work and worked cherubim on it” which separated the Holy of Holies, the Kodesh Hakadashim, from the rest of the Temple.

This is very similar to the description of the veil leading into the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle in the Wilderness.

Exodus 26:31 “And thou shalt make a vail [of] blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made:”

The veil was then hung on four pillars like the

 Throne of God which rested on the four cherubim in heaven.

The Curtain of Separation

History seems to indicate that there were two curtains in Herod’s Temple: One at the huge gated entry into the Temple and the other separating the Holy of Holies and the main sanctuary.

God Himself thought so much of the importance of the type, as shown by the tearing of the veil:

Matt 27:50-51 “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.”

If we don’t understand the meaning in Scripture of the Holy of Holies and the veil, we miss out on extremely significant information concerning exactly what Messiah’s death meant to sinful mankind.

To comprehend why it was a miracle we need to understand that the curtain separated the Holy Place from everyone but the High Priest.

The Holy Place was where the presence of God dwelled on the mercy seat.

The curtain was a constant reminder to the Israelites that their access to God depended on another physical human, and that this access was only granted through the physical works of the sacrificial system. 

Exodus 26:31 – “You shall make a veil woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen.  It shall be woven with an artistic design of cherubim.

You shall hang it upon the four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold.  Their hooks shall be gold, upon four sockets of silver.  And you shall hang the veil from the clasps.” 

At the Moses tabernacle replica the high priest worships just outside of the Holy of Holies.

“Then you shall bring the ark of the Testimony in there, behind the veil.  The veil shall be a divider for you between the holy place the Most Holy.  You shall put the mercy seat upon the ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy.”

According to Israelite Hebrew teachers /rabbinic sources, the Sacred Veil that was made for the Temple of Solomon was actually made by layering multiple sheets of colored linen together.  The curtains overall thickness was said to be over three feetThe highest and most Holy of days in the life of a Israelite/Hebrew, is the Day of Atonement, on this day, the Lord of hosts left His throne of justice and moved to the seat of mercy to meet with the Tzaddik of Israel, the High Priest as he entered the Most Holy Place.

One can only imagine the High Priest blindly navigating through the maze of thirty layers of linen sheets, together with the censor smoking incense in one hand and the blood of the ram in the bowl in the other hand.

As his world became darker and darker, he soon found himself standing in the presence of the Lord in complete darkness.

Without any sensory sight to help him, standing in the presence of the Lord would have been very disorientating.  He had to lean on faith and trust explicitly on the Lord to shield and protect him, for to touch the ark of the Lord would mean instant death. Then as the Lord promised the High Priest, “I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat”.

In the temple of Herod, (in Jesus’ day), the massive temple veil(s) were 60 feet long, 30 feet wide with multiple woven layers the thickness of a man’s hand (approx. 4”).

(See account of Historian Josephus at the end.)**

These curtains/veils were not the flimsy material we have as window dressings today.  

It was woven in 72 squares and was so heavy that over 300 priests were needed to move or change the squares.

The curtain itself was hung in the Temple on a huge stone lintel. It was over thirty feet long and estimated to weigh about thirty tons (60,000 pounds).

In a Letter to Hedibia, the early church father, Jerome, wrote that the during the rending of the temple Veil, the lintel that held the Veil was splintered, broke up and fell to the ground.

The lintel was an enormous stone, being at least 30 feet long and weighing some 30 tons!

Though this event was in the midst of a great earthquake, the portents to the High Priest and the Sanhedrin occurring at the moment of the death of Jesus/Yeshua were ominous.  Even with the collapse of the lintel, the huge curtain would have fallen to the ground, but the historical testimony states that “the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom”. (Matthew 27:51)

The unseen Hand of the Almighty One sent a message to Caiphas, Ananias and all the other temple rulers.

The curtain being torn from top to bottom was a foreboding omen, indicating that God’s hand had torn it in two and that His presence was leaving that Holy place.

The judgments of God, as portrayed over the preceding three hours as Jesus hung on the cross, would be visited upon His own temple, His own people, and upon the evil followers of the temple rulers.

The rending of the veil is recorded in the gospels as if it were observed from the site of the execution of Jesus.  It seems the only place in the vicinity of the Temple of Herod, that had a visual view of the Eastern Gate looking down upon the temple, with a view of the veil in front of the Holy of Holiest, was on the western slopes of the Mount of Olives near the Miphkad Altar, where the ashes of the red heifer were burnt.

Consistent with the Gospel accounts of the death of Jesus and the independent testimonies of the Hebrew Talmud, Josephus, Tactitus, and early ante-Nicean fathers of the Christian Church, the final moments of the life of Jesus were surrounded with cataclysmic events and fateful portents.  These portents shadowed the esteemed high priest’s family, the House of Ananias and the temple hierarchy all the way to the final destruction of that glorious temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. 

It is also significant how the natural world was rent and torn, while the agony of the Suffering Servant was demonstrated on that cross before the Jewish people.  We must understand again, that the death of Jesus was not a human event but a cosmic event.  The Book of Job gives us a heavenly scene where in the Council of heaven the ‘sons of God’ met and deliberate.  It was here in this council that Satan went to represent this earth.  How?  There in the Garden, when Adam chose to disobey God, Satan wrestled away from ‘this’ son of God his dominion as ruler of this planet and his role to sit in that cosmic council in heaven.  There Satan known as ‘HaSatan’, which translated means ‘the Accuser’, has been representing this planet before the throne of God.

It was not just the followers of Jesus, the rulers of the temple and the Roman soldiers that watched the unfolding of this great “Drama of the Ages”. The other dimensional hosts in the universe; the sons of God and the angelic hosts all watched with bated breath and horror as the Son of God gave up His life. This was evident in the darkness of those hours.

Here, was THE moment of time, when Jesus/Yeshua cried out again with a loud voice, “It is Finished and bowing His head, He gave up His spirit” (John 19: 30) or as Luke testified, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” (Luke 23:46) and “yielded up His spirit”.  (Luke 27:50)

“It records the rending of the Temple-Veil in two from the top downward to the bottom; as the second, the quaking of the earth, the rending of the rocks and the opening of the graves . . . while the rending of the Veil is recorded first, as being the most significant token to Israel, it may have been connected with the earthquake, although this alone might scarcely account for the tearing of so heavy a Veil from the top to the bottom.” 

The only place where a Passover (Pesach) lamb could be killed was in 
Jerusalem (Yerushalayim).

Mount Moriah, the exact same place where Abraham and Isaac had been willing to offer his life.

On the fourteenth of Nisan, at the third hour of the day (9:00
a.m.), the high priest (Cohen
 HaGadol) took the lamb and ascended the altar so he could tie the lamb 
in place on the altar. Exactly the same time on that day, Yeshua was tied
 to the tree on Mount Moriah (Mark 15:25).

The time of the evening 
sacrifice was (3:00 p.m.) for Passover (Exodus [Shemot] 12:6), the high 
priest (Cohen HaGadol) ascended the altar, cut the throat of the lamb
 with a knife, and said the words, “It is finished.”

(These are the
 exact words said after giving a peace offering to G-d.)

At this same 
time, Jesus/Yeshua died, saying these exact words as recorded in John (Yochanan) 19:30.
 Yeshua died at exactly 3:00 p.m. (Matthew [Mattityahu] 27:45-46,50). 

 

Roman time was calculated on 6 a.m. as the first hour of the day, as day breaks. Jesus/Yeshua died at the ninth hour, which is 3 p.m.

Between the evenings (Plural) is when the Passover lamb was killed.

This is a Jewish term. There are two evenings in the Jewish day. The first is the beginning of the suns waning, which is Noon. The second is the beginning of the darkness as the new day begins, avg. 6p.m. (Don’t think this strange, for in most of the western world the day begins at midnight, in the middle of the darkness.) Between the evenings as given in Exodus means 3 PM.


Picture Jesus’ loud and painful cry “it is finished” (Jn.19:30), as the Roman solder plunges a spear deep into His side and His life Blood drains to the ground.

At the same instant, the Temple veil tears apart as a powerful earthquake shakes Jerusalem.

Furthermore, picture the high priest who, having just condemned Jesus to death the night before, was splashing the blood of Passover lambs against the altar of God.

When Jesus cried out “it is finished” and the curtain tore, the relationship between God and humanity was altered forever. The tearing of the curtain of separation from top to bottom, forever opens the way for all humanity to eventually fellowship directly with God the Father. 

The significance that Jesus/Yeshua dies at the same moment that the lamb in the temple was killed cannot be over emphasized. It was God’s perfect timing, because it was at this point the earth quaked and the veil tore right where the High Priest was standing.

Their shock and astonishment was understandable.

   None of these events ‘just happened’, it was all part of God’s plan and His plan is still in motion.

The colors of the veil are very significant and are the same colors that are used in the garments of the High Priest.

Blue: We have learned about the significance of the color blue representing the Law of God.

Red: The color red represents the blood of Jesus Christ as our Passover sacrifice. It also represented the red ribbon of Rahab, which pointed to the inclusion of the Gentiles in salvation.

Purple: The color purple, which combines both blue and red, points us to the Royal Priesthood, which combines both the salvation given to us through the sacrifice of Jesus and our love of God shown through our obedience to the Law.

White: on the High Priest’s garments represents our clean garments as we prepare ourselves as the Bride of Christ and also the perfection of Jesus Christ.

Gold: To these four colors was added gold. In the Tabernacle in the Wilderness we see that the Ark of the Covenant located in the Holy of Holies was also made of gold. God’s presence was in the Ark and it was also the receptacle of the Holy Spirit. As the High Priest symbolizes the living Holy Holies/ Sanctuary, that we are today, the gold represents the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit in us. Just as the gold was interwoven amongst all the other strands of material, so too Holy Spirit ties all the members of the Body of Messiah together.

Therefore, by passing through the four-colored veil, it was looking forward to our perfect High Priest, Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah.

The symbolism of the veil was, that it was there to exclude all mankind, UNTIL the sacrifice of Jesus as High Priest. Jesus the Messiah could enter once and for all with His own blood to provide access for us, so that Holy Spirit, as the tangible power of God, could dwell among men.)

When Jesus died and the veil in the Temple was torn in two it ensures that we all may boldly approach the Throne of God in prayer, through our High Priest, Jesus the Messiah (Heb. 4:14-16).

Consider the enormous significance of this monumental and historical event in the following references:

This is the moment in time that Jesus spoke of to the woman of Samaria when he foretold that the existing worship system would be abolished, and that those who wanted to worship God would no longer need to travel to a specific location to worship:

“The woman said to him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where it is necessary to worship. Jesus said to her, Woman believe me that an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem . . .. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (Jn.4:19-23 Para.).

No longer would a physical man be required to offer animal sacrifices for sins. Any who truly worship the Father can now stand before him and present their own cause to him, knowing that he will hear and consider their prayer because of the sacrifice of Jesus the Christ.

With the tearing of the curtain, all who worship God, whether Jew or Gentile, have access to the throne of mercy by the one and final sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.

See Heb.4:15-16; 6:18-19; 9:1-15; 10:19-22.

“For through him we both have access by one spirit to the Father. Now therefore you are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Eph.2:18-19 KJV).

 

Historical References of interest:

** “Josephus reported that the veil was 4 inches thick, was renewed every year, and that horses tied to each side could not pull it apart.  It barred all but the High Priest from the presence of God, but when it was torn in two at the death of Jesus of Nazareth (see Mark 15:38), access to God was made available to all who come through him.”  (Even at face value, this is an enigmatic note, in that Exodus 26 describes the Tabernacle, and the veil that was torn in two was part of Herod’s Temple.  Ryrie’s representation of “the veil” certainly implies that the veil that Exodus describes is the veil that Josephus describes, which is to be identified with the veil that was torn in two.) before these doors there was a veil of equal largeness with the doors. It was a Babylonian curtain, embroidered with blue, and fine linen, and scarlet, and purple, and of a contexture that was truly wonderful. Nor was this mixture of colors without its mystical interpretation, but was a kind of image of the universe; for by the scarlet there seemed to be enigmatically signified fire, by the fine flax the earth, by the blue the air, and by the purple the sea; two of them having their colors the foundation of this resemblance; but the fine flax and the purple have their own origin for that foundation, the earth producing the one, and the sea the other. This curtain had also embroidered upon it all that was mystical in the heavens, excepting that of the [twelve] signs, representing living creatures. (Historian Josephus Wars of the Jews: Wars 5.5.4)

Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah.

The Veils before the Most Holy Place were 40 cubits (60 feet) long, and 20 (30 feet) wide, of the thickness of the palm of the hand, and wrought in 72 squares, which were joined together; and these Veils were so heavy, that, in the exaggerated language of the time, it needed 300 priests to manipulate each.  If the Veil was at all such as is described in the Talmud, it could not have been rent in twain by a mere earthquake or the fall of the lintel, although its composition in squares fastened together might explain, how the rent might be as described in the Gospel.

Maurice Henry Harris, Hebraic Literature (M. Walter Dunne, 1901).

Three hundred priests were told off [sic; the idea is that they were designated] to draw the veil (of the Temple) aside; for it is taught that Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel declared in the name of Rabbi Shimon the Sagan (or high priest’s substitute), that the thickness of the veil was a handbreadth. It was woven of seventy-two cords, and each cord consisted of twenty-four strands. It was forty cubits long and twenty wide. Eighty-two myriads of damsels worked at it, and two such veils were made every year. When it became soiled, it took three hundred priests to immerse and cleanse it.     Chullin (Harris, pp. 195-96)

The veil was one handbreadth thick and was woven on [a loom having] seventy-two rods, and over each rod were twenty-four threads.  Its length was forty cubits and its breadth twenty cubits; it was made by eighty-two young girls, and they used to make two in every year; and three hundred priests immersed it.