And thou shalt make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined byssus; of artistic work shall it be made, with cherubim.
Here the plans for the tent reach their centre: a woven screen that divides the holy place from the most holy. God chose every detail — the four materials, the embroidered cherubim, the place it hung — and the New Testament tells us what it stood for.
Scripture itself gives the key to this curtain.
The veil of Hebrews 10:20 is clearly the second veil of Hebrews 9:3. This is the veil of Exodus 26:31, made of "blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen," skillfully worked. The verse in Hebrews 10 that speaks of the veil gives us its meaning: it is "His flesh." John 1:14 shows Christ's flesh to be His humanity, for "the Word became flesh." So in the veil we see, in its beautiful colours, the lovely traits of Christ's Manhood, and perhaps also the varied glories of Christ.
(Where the older translations of Hebrews 10:20 say "veil," the ESV reads "curtain.")
Each thread carries its own note, and together they portray one Man.
The veil, spoken of in Exodus 26:31, is an exquisite type of Christ. The blue gives His heavenly character. The purple gives His imperial rights as King of kings and Lord of lords. The scarlet shows that He is King of the Jews. The fine twined linen tells us of His spotless humanity. The cherubim — always in Scripture the ones who carry out God's judgment — tell us that God has placed all judgment in His hands.
The same four materials make up the inner curtains, but there the linen is named first and here the blue. Commentators see meaning in the order.
In the curtains the fine twined linen comes first. There we have the great fact that the Word dwelt among us in flesh. But in the veil (and the veil was His flesh, Heb. 10:20) we have His glory as Mediator. So the glories that He alone could take up for God come first — but a Man takes them up.
Scripture places these figures at God's throne. Here they are woven into a curtain that pictures a human life.
From Exodus 26:31 we learn that there were cherubim in the holy veil. The Spirit of God in Hebrews 10:20 speaks of this veil as "His flesh." This shows that everything these wonderful figures stand for was set out in the life of the Lord Jesus on earth… They speak of the activities of the throne, as seen in Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 4. All this awe-inspiring grandeur shines in the infinite God. Here it is set before us in figures suited to us as creatures. And all of it has been displayed in grace in the Man Christ Jesus.
The supports of the veil carry their own lesson.
The pillars were of acacia wood, overlaid with gold… This stands for the person of Christ in His two natures, human and divine — as the God-man. Since these pillars held up the veil, the lesson is that everything in redemption depends on the person of Christ. If He had not been man, He could not have died for our sins. And if He had been only man, His sacrifice could not have been enough for all His people.
The same curtain that pictured Christ also kept people out.
The veil, as a figure of Christ, teaches the blessed truth that access to God comes through Christ alone. But the veil in itself speaks of distance and concealment. God could not fully reveal Himself. In righteousness He could not go out to the sinner, or bring the sinner in to Himself. First the question of sin had to be taken up and settled once and for all. This Christ did, and as a result, the moment He gave up His spirit, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
At this point in Exodus, the veil is only going up. That act teaches something too.
It is not the tearing of the veil that we have here, but the hanging of it up (v. 33). God dwelt behind it. It is called, in chapter 35:12, "the veil of the covering," for He was hidden behind it. He could not fully reveal Himself until the veil was torn. But in hanging it up He showed us Christ's character as Mediator. There is "one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." Now the veil is torn, God is fully revealed, and the way into the Holiest is open, so that believers may enter in by a new and living way.
- Veil identified — Hebrews 10:20 names it: the veil is His flesh, the humanity of Christ.
- Veil described — blue for heaven, purple for royal rights, scarlet for the King of the Jews, fine linen for a spotless Man. The cherubim show that all judgment rests in His hands.
- Veil supported — gold over wood in the pillars speaks of God and Man in one Person. Everything in redemption rests on Him.
- Veil dividing — while it hung, it said the way in was not yet open; God stayed hidden and man stayed outside.
- Veil torn — at the cross it was split from top to bottom, and the barrier became the way in.
And thou shalt attach it to four pillars of acacia-wood overlaid with gold, their hooks of gold; they shall be on four bases of silver.
The chapter has just described the veil, and this verse names what held it up. Commentators read each part of those supports — the wood, the gold and the silver — as a picture of Christ and of what the way to God cost.
The pillars were made like the boards of the tent: acacia wood covered with gold. One writer takes the three supports in turn and draws the lesson.
The supports of the veil were threefold. There were, first, the pillars, then the hooks, and lastly, the sockets of silver. The pillars were of acacia wood, overlaid with gold — as seen in the boards. This symbolizes the person of Christ in His two natures, human and divine — as the God-man. The lesson then is this: because these pillars held up the veil, everything in redemption depends upon the person of Christ. If He had not been man, He could not have died for our sins. If He had been only man, His sacrifice could not have been enough for all His people. But being God and man, He could make propitiation for the sins of His people and for the whole world. The whole value of His work flows from His person. If the truth of the person of Christ could be undermined, the whole structure of redemption would be in danger.
The silver had a history. It came from the people themselves.
The hooks, likewise, were of gold, and the sockets were of silver. Now silver is typical of redemption. Notice where the sockets of the tabernacle came from. They were made of the half shekels of silver the people paid as redemption money — "every man a ransom for his soul" (see Ex. 30:12; Ex. 38:25-28). Everything is based on redemption.
The veil hung from golden hooks fixed to the pillars. One writer reads the gold above and the silver below as one lesson.
The veil was to hang on golden hooks. This brings out that man's approach to God is made to fit the display of God's righteousness. The pillars stood on sockets of silver. This shows that Christ could take this place as the way in only on the ground of His death. It was His death that secured redemption for the sinner, and the display of righteousness for God.
Commentators differ here. Some read the pillars as a picture of Christ Himself, set apart from the boards:
Notice how close the gold and the acacia wood are here. Again they picture the deity and humanity of the Lord Jesus. And these were to be pillars, not boards. No doubt someone with a merely material mind would see in this nothing but a building requirement. Someone with a spiritual mind would see the distinction: the boards illustrate believers, and the pillars picture Christ Himself.
Others point out that these pillars, like the boards, stand on silver. They read them as a picture of God's own people:
These four pillars rest upon silver. That shows us they speak, like the boards, of Christ's people as seen in Him... But how can the people of God in any sense be represented in His house as holding up Christ? Only perfect grace could put them in a place of such privilege, higher than words can tell.
The next verses describe the curtain at the entrance to the tent. Its pillars did not stand on silver.
Five pillars held up the entrance curtain, and they stood on sockets of brass (or copper), not silver. Brass speaks of the holiness of God, and the altar of brass is a prime example of this. That altar shows God's holiness in connection with the sacrifice of Christ. There He bore the burning judgment of God as He suffered for sins.
One writer draws a careful line between two words.
"Rent" and "removed" are different things. If the veil is Christ's flesh, that is not removed, nor do we want it removed. By Him we draw near to God; but He had to die that it might be so. Look at the beautiful veil, and see what it implies!
- Person first. Gold on acacia wood pictures God and man in one Person. The pillars carry the veil, so everything in redemption depends on who Christ is.
- Price beneath. The silver bases came from ransom money, so the whole way to God rests on redemption already paid.
- Righteousness above. Gold hooks hold the veil. The way to God is made to suit the display of His righteousness.
- People between. Writers differ. Some see the pillars as Christ alone. Others see God's own people, put by grace in the place of holding Him up.
- Way open. The veil was torn, not removed. By Christ we still draw near to God, and it cost Him death to make it so.
And thou shalt bring the veil under the clasps, and bring in thither, inside the veil, the ark of the testimony; and the curtain shall make a division to you between the holy [place] and the holiest of all.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And thou shalt put the mercy-seat on the ark of the testimony in the holiest of all.
The command is short. Once the veil hangs, the ark with its golden lid goes behind it. Yet this one sentence sets the centre of Israel's worship. It says where God would sit, what He sat on, and how far back He kept everyone.
The inner room held one thing only.
Inside the veil, in the Most Holy Place, the ark with its covering mercy seat was to be the one piece of furniture (vv. 33-34), for it is a symbol of the throne of God, and of Christ who upholds that throne.
Of everything in the tabernacle, the ark stood highest. And its lid, above all else, was God's throne.
Of these the highest is the ark. It was the seat of God's majesty in Israel. And, as everyone knows — and it matters greatly — the mercy seat was above all else that throne of God. This is the mercy seat we later see with blood sprinkled on it and in front of it. This is the mercy seat that hid the law, the law that destroys every claim man makes for himself. Yet it kept that law in the place of highest honour, out of human sight.
The ark is called "the ark of the testimony" because the two stone tablets of the law lay inside it. That detail is what makes the lid so important.
The God who was to be approached is holy — completely holy. Holiness is a nature that loves purity and drives evil away. So He sits on a throne that judges the evil holiness hates, in righteousness and with authority. What is more, the law — the testimony of what God required of man — was in the ark, but thank God the mercy seat covered it. Another writer has said it well: "Suppose an ark with no mercy seat. The law would then lie uncovered. Nothing would hush its thunder, nothing would hold back its righteous sentence. Could a nation of lawbreakers stand before it? Could a holy and righteous God meet sinners there? Could mercy reign, or grace shine out from such an ark? Impossible! An uncovered ark might make a throne of judgment, but not a seat of mercy."
The name of this lid is not just a poetic title. The Hebrew word says what the lid was for.
"A throne of grace" is now a happy and familiar thought to Christians. The blood on the mercy seat before God pictured that. The high priest put it there once a year, on the day of atonement, when he went into the Most Holy Place. The mercy seat was the throne of the Lord in Israel, where He dwelt between the cherubim. Its name was the kapporeth, the "propitiatory" — the place where the blood made propitiation for the soul. There the blood of atonement met God's righteousness, and so it upheld God's grace in staying among the people despite their sins.
One writer follows that word into the New Testament:
So the New Testament shows that "mercy seat" and "propitiation" are one and the same word. Here the Old and New Testaments join hands.
"In the Most Holy Place" was not an address anyone could visit. It was a sealed room.
The Most Holy Place was the second, inner room of God's dwelling. Here, from His symbolic throne, the Lord spoke to the mediator (Ex. 25:22). No one could enter this room, except once a year, when the high priest went in to make atonement for the sins of the people… Inside it was dark. God lived among Israel, yet He was alone… But that arrangement has now passed away, and the things it pictured have come. So we have "confidence to enter the holy places" (Heb. 10:19).
One writer sets this verse beside two others to draw out three truths.
Three Old Testament Scriptures give us the leading truths of the mercy seat. First, Exodus 25:17 tells us the mercy seat was of "pure gold". This speaks to us of the glory of the Person of Christ… Second, Exodus 26:34 tells us the mercy seat was put on the ark "in the Most Holy Place". The Most Holy Place was a picture of heaven itself (Heb. 9:24). It speaks of where Christ is today, in the presence of God. Third, Leviticus 16:14-15 tells us that the blood of the sacrifice was brought inside the veil… and sprinkled "over the mercy seat". This speaks not only of the work of Christ, but of God's acceptance of that work… We learn Who He is, where He is, and what He has done for the satisfaction of God.
- Throne — the ark with its lid was the only furniture in the inner room, God's seat in the middle of His people.
- Cover — the law lay inside. Uncovered, it could only condemn. The lid turned a throne of judgment into a seat of mercy.
- Blood — the lid's own name is "propitiatory," the same word the New Testament uses for propitiation.
- Barrier — the room was dark and shut to everyone but the high priest, once a year. The way in was not yet open.
- Heaven — the Most Holy Place pictures heaven, where Christ is now. His work is accepted, and the way in is open at last.