Why Does the Temple Curtain Tear When Jesus Dies?
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So much occurred on that monumental day of our Christian faith – the day that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins.
Those who witnessed this death, as recalled in the Scriptures, described a sudden darkness overtaking the hill, while some mentioned the earth began to tremble and shake as though an earthquake was happening.
However, one of the most recognized effects of Jesus’s death on the cross occurred within the quiet perimeter of the temple in Jerusalem, as depicted in the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The temple curtain was created to be a barrier between God and the Holy Place. Its tearing revealed that all could come into the presence of God with the acceptance of Jesus’s sacrifice.
Why would such a minor incident, in view of everything else that happened that day, revolutionize what we know of the Christian faith? The answer lies in what the temple curtain represented and why Jesus’s arrival and death forever changed that mindset.
What Was the Purpose of the Temple Curtain?
Temples were mentioned regularly in the Bible, but at the time of Jesus’s existence, the Second Temple of Herod the Great was what was currently being built in Jerusalem. The temple, which took 46 years to construct, was massive, with a gated retaining wall and the Holy Place (which housed the presence of the Lord) in an enlarged white stone building.
The Most Holy Place, or Holy of Holies, was where the Ark of Covenant was located and where the appointed High Priest would enter once a year to present a blood sacrifice to God on the day known as Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). The instructions on how to build this sacred area of the temple were first given to Moses by God for Moses’s tabernacle.
The temple curtain or veil was created as a barrier between the Most Holy Place (Exod. 26:33) and the rest of the temple. It was “woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen. It shall be woven with an artistic design of cherubim” (Exodus 26:31).
So in essence, the temple curtain or veil was meant to be a wall to protect God from those who were deemed not worthy of His presence. It continued in this way until Jesus’s sacrifice.
What Happened When Jesus Died on the Cross?
Though Herod’s Temple was still under construction during the time of Jesus, the principles given to Moses by God still held true regarding how the temple was viewed by those in Jerusalem.
The Sanhedrin made the temple their meeting place, while it also housed the Holy Scriptures for safekeeping and was where religious rituals would take place. Given that the Sanhedrin were one of the main authorities in Jerusalem, it is understandable why they would continue to uphold the rules and regulations of worship to God in the temple.
However, Jesus came so that all could have access to God, not just holy priests or members of the Sanhedrin. Faith wasn’t based on keeping rules or performance, but on believing in God’s love and being obedient to His will.
The Bible captures what exactly happened when Jesus committed His spirit to the Lord through His death on the cross, when the temple curtain was torn in two:
“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. 27:51).
“Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (Mark 15:38)
“Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two” (Luke 23:45).
Even one of the centurions, upon witnessing Jesus on the cross, cried out that He must have been the Son of God for this display of spiritual transformation. He heard Jesus cry out to God about forsaking Him, and then after He died, these changes occurred (Luke 15:39).
Needless to say, the tearing of the temple curtain/veil in two was significant in the message God was sending to everyone.
What Did the Temple Curtain Tearing Mean?
The abovementioned verses reveal that the temple curtain was torn completely in half, which means there wouldn’t be any way back to this separation of God from His people. Jesus died taking on our sins, rectifying the first sin from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
In the time of Moses, the rituals and sacrifices to God were established as guidance to believers in asking God’s forgiveness for their sins. However, the sacrifices were to be performed only by men deemed suitable as high priests to be in the presence of God, making the viewpoint that God was someone whom no one could know personally.
But as we read in countless stories in the Bible, God was never held within the confines of the temple; He was with His children, leading their lives and filling them with His love and peace as they went about their daily lives.
The tearing of the temple curtain in two meant that we, as God’s people, could return to the relationship mankind once had with God during the time of Adam and Eve. We didn’t have to go through another human to connect with God; we have the bridge to God made possible by Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross. And as much as the Sanhedrin might have tried to bring people back to the rules and regulations of Mosaic Law, it was clear God wanted us to come to Him more for strength and guidance than looking to ourselves.
Even Hebrews 10:19-20 states that we, as regular believers, can enter the Holy of Holies without fear that God won’t meet us there. “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holies by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh.”
No Longer Held Back from Christ
The day that Jesus died on the cross for us was life-changing in several ways, both for those who witnessed His death firsthand and for the generations to follow.
Before, the only way to connect with God was done one day a year at the temple, when a blood sacrifice was offered to God by a high priest on Yom Kippur. No one was to enter the temple to meet with God personally, as there were rules and regulations to follow, as well as spiritual authority given only by God, to meet with Him on that specific day.
The veil was considered one of the barriers to keep God and those outside of the temple at a safe distance, but the exact moment Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice on the cross, the veil was torn completely in half, from top to bottom. This meant we are no longer held back from the God who loves us. Now, we have the connection of His son, Jesus, to run back into the relationship we desperately want with God. We are no longer held back by religious authority who believed their way of “handling” God was better than throwing ourselves down at His feet and calling out to Him for mercy.
The veil that was to keep us out only became a doorway to an eternal relationship with God once again.
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Uwe Krejci
