Hebrews 9:3

And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies.

The only access to that Holy of Holies was through the veil, a description of which is afforded by Exodus 26:31ff. It was this veil which was parted in twain from the top to the bottom at the time of our Lord's crucifixion (Matthew 27:51), thus being brought into focus to reveal an astonishing weight of symbolism.

THE VEIL OF THE TEMPLE

The three colors of the veil (Exodus 26:31ff), blue above, scarlet beneath, and purple between, formed by the perfect blending of the other colors, suggest the doctrine of the Trinity, and particularly the person of Christ whose heavenly nature (the blue) was perfectly blended with his earthly nature (the scarlet) to form the perfect co-mingling of the two (the purple) in his person as the unique God-man. The spiritual and heavenly nature of the things typified by the veil is typified by the embroidered cherubim upon it. According to the scriptures, that ancient veil stands typical of a number of things.

1. It is a symbol of the mysteries of the Old Testament. Paul said of Israel,

Their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remaineth, it not being revealed to them that it is done away in Christ. But unto this day, whensoever Moses is read, a veil lieth upon their heart. But whensoever it shall turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away (2 Corinthians 3:14-16).

Only in Christ can the Old Testament be understood, even by Israel. Christ is the "seed" of Abraham, "the Son of David," the "Lion of the tribe of Judah," "that Prophet like unto Moses," the suffering "servant" of Isaiah, the priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, and so on and on. His resurrection was the "sign of the prophet Jonah," and his herald, John the Baptist, was "that Elijah which was to come."

2. It is a symbol of death and Christ's triumph over death. Isaiah said,

And he (God) will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces (Isaiah 25:7,8).

In this passage, death is plainly called the veil that is spread over all nations, thus the destruction of that veil symbolizes the triumph of Christ over death; and, previously to that, the veil stood for centuries as a type of death itself, appropriately attested by its strategic location between the sanctuary (the church) and the most holy place (heaven). The scriptural authority for such a view of the veil is seen in the reference to Christ's entering heaven for us as "entering into that which is within the veil" (Hebrews 6:19).

3. The veil also typified the flesh of Christ, or his person, and the fact of his person's being rent, at the very moment of the Lord's death, for our sins. It is therefore "through the veil, that is to say his flesh," that one draws near to God (Hebrews 10:19-22).

4. There is a double symbolism in the veil as a type of the law of Moses, being the pivotal instrument in the entire system, and also upon the annulment that fell on the law when Christ died and the veil was rent in twain (Colossians 2:14).

5. It was a symbol of the chief function of the law of Moses which was actually one of concealment, specifically, the concealment of the ministrations of the high priest on the day of atonement, and is therefore typical of the office of the Jewish high priest, and in its being rent, a symbol of the removal of that office. No earthly high priest is now needed; there is only "one mediator between God and man, himself also man, Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5,6).

6. The veil was symbolical of the separation between God and man, it being the prime function of the veil, as of the whole Mosaic institution, to keep men away from God and to emphasize the unbridgeable gulf that separated them; again, the double symbolism is continued in the rending of the veil being made, in the New Testament, to be the opening up of a "new and living way" through Christ for people to draw near to God (Hebrews 10:20).

7. Most emphatically, the veil is a symbol of the equality among God's children. The old covenant had its lesser priests, and high priest, who alone might enter the holiest place of all; but all such distinctions are removed in Christ's kingdom. "All of you are brethren" is the way Jesus expressed it (Matthew 23:8). Peter denominated all of God's children as a "holy priesthood" (1 Peter 2:5), and even as a "royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9). To be sure, the veil did not symbolize such an equality until after it was rent in twain, being prior to that time a symbol of their inequality; and from this, it appears that the most important thing anyone can know about that old veil is that it was rent asunder by God himself.

Therefore, every time a human being gets between God and one of his holy and royal priests (Christians) and tries to be something of a higher priest to perform some intercessory or mediatorial or judicial service, such a man is only trying to patch up that old veil which was destroyed by the hand of God when Christ was crucified. Let no man, therefore, hide behind a veil to hear another's confession, or to pass sentence, or to prescribe penalties, or perform any function whatsoever. It is only that old veil trying to come back. Remember that God took it away. Tear it down therefore and trample upon it. Take it away forever. Let it come no more between the person who has been redeemed by the blood of Christ and the presence of God, to which presence every true believer has "access," not upon the sufferance of any man, clerical or otherwise, but by the will of God through Christ. People are no more children hiding in the folds of an old veil; let them walk in the Light.

The "holy of holies" mentioned in Hebrews 9:3 is discussed as a type of heaven in Hebrews 10.