In chapter 5 we compared a statement by John MacArthur with a statement from the Westminster Confession of Faith on the same subject. Let me repeat part of each quotation.
One of the key theological themes in Hebrews is that all believers now have direct access to God under the New Covenant and, therefore may approach the throne of God boldly (4:16; 10:22) … believers under the covenant of law did not have direct access to the presence of God (9:8), but were shut out of the Holy of Holies.
Compare that statement with the following statement from the Westminster Confession of Faith.
The liberty which Christ hath purchased for believers under the gospel consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the curse of the moral law; and in their being delivered from this present evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion of sin, from the evil of afflictions, the sting of death, the victory of the grave, and everlasting damnation; as also in their free access to God, and their yielding obedience unto him, not out of slavish fear, but a child-like love and willing mind. All which were common also to believers under the law; …
The first half of the statement in the Westminster Confession of Faith listing the blessings of believers “living under the gospel” is an excellent and accurate summary of what the New Testament teaches. It sounds like all of these blessings are unique to new covenant “believers living under the gospel,” however, that is not what the Confession means. The Confession then upends everything it has just stated by insisting “All which were common also to believers under the law.” The Confession is insisting that old and new covenant believers both have all of the same blessings including “free access to God”. Not only is there not a stitch of textual evidence for that statement, the statement clearly contradicts Paul’s theology of new covenant access to God in Ephesians and Hebrews. That statement is one of what Covenant Theology calls “a good and necessary consequence.” The “one covenant with two administrations” advocated by Covenant Theology is essential to that system of Theology. The old covenant and new covenant cannot actually be different covenants in that system. They must be the same covenant in nature and substance and are merely two administrations of that one and same covenant. What the Bible calls the “old covenant,” Covenant Theology calls “the older covenant of grace” and what the Bible calls, “the new covenant,” Covenant Theology calls “the newer covenant of grace.” The Bible specifically uses the words “old and new covenant” and never once refers to a new and old “administration” of the same covenant. This forces that theology to insist that Israel had every spiritual blessing, including “free access to God,” or entrance into the Most Holy Place, that the Church enjoys today. This contradicts everything the veil in the Tabernacle separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place was meant to teach.
Direct access into the presence of God, the heavenly Most Holy Place, is a New Testament doctrine. The Book of Ephesians and the Book of Hebrews make that very clear. Look at three New Testament passages that speak of the new and total access into God’s presence that new covenant believers have but old covenant believers did not have. We not only have a total and permanent peace with God, we have a free access into the heavenly Most Holy Place that old covenant believers did not have. You cannot understand the meaning and purpose of the veil in the Tabernacle and at the same time insist that old covenant believers had access inside that veil. We will come back to the theology of the veil. That subject is vital in understanding the priestly work of Christ.
First passage:
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God (Rom. 5:1, 2).
The “access” into the presence of God, the Most Holy Place, described in these verses is a blessing peculiar to the new covenant believers. This blessing is in contrast to the old covenant believer being shut out of the Most Holy Place. This is described in Exodus and Leviticus. The old covenant message of “stay away upon pain of death” has been replaced with the new covenant message of “come and welcome.” The message given under the old covenant (Lev. 16:1, 2) was both clear and emphatic. No one except Aaron was allowed access into the Most Holy Place and, he was only allowed to enter on one day of the year, the Day of Atonement. The radically different message under the new covenant is just as clear and emphatic. It says:
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water (Heb. 10:19-22).
What an amazing difference between the old covenant message of “stay away” and the “come boldly” message of the new covenant. Our boldness to come into the Most Holy Place (Rom. 5:1, 2) is based on our assurance that Christ, in his atoning death, has forever “abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments.”
Second passage:
by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit (Eph. 2:15-18).
The shed blood of Christ “abolished in his flesh” (his sinless human nature) the enmity (wrath) of the law of God against us. The free access that new covenant believes have into God’s presence is possible only because the Tables of the Covenant in the Ark of the Covenant (the Ten Commandments) have been done away in Christ. The peace preached in the new covenant is possible because the enmity against us as lawbreakers has been born by Christ on the cross. This peace is now preached to the Jew as the true gospel, and the same Gospel is preached to the Gentiles, those who were “afar off.”
We should mention that you can reconcile enemies but you cannot reconcile enmity. Enmity must be removed before there can be true reconciliation. The enmity of God against us was removed by our blessed substitute on the cross. He was “made to be sin for us” (2 Cor. 5:23) for us. The enmity in us against God (Rom. 8:7 NKJV) was removed by the Holy Spirit in regeneration. He took out our stony hearts that hated God and his authority and gave us a heart of flesh upon which was written the Law of Christ. Robed in the righteousness of Christ we now have boldness and access with confidence to enter the Most Holy Place. I repeat, I agree with John MacArthur that this is a new covenant blessing the old covenant believer did not have.
Third passage:
In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him (Eph. 3:12 KJV).
The boldness and confidence to enter the very place an old covenant believer was forbidden to enter upon pain of death is the liberty of conscience that enables us to say, “Abba, Father.” The old covenant believer thought of God primarily as the “covenant God” and not as “Father.” Jesus taught the new covenant believer to think and pray in terms of “our Father.” For an excellent development of this fact see Chapter 19, “Sons of God” in J.I. Packer’s excellent book, Knowing God.[1]
There are two biblical facts that must be understood. (1) The new covenant believer’s conscience is “not under law” (Rom. 6:14) in a way that an old covenant believer’s conscience could never be, and (2) an old covenant believer’s conscience was “under the law” in a way a new covenant believer must never allow his conscience to be. A new covenant believer can sing, “He has hushed the Law’s loud thunder, he has brought us near to God.” You cannot be “under the law” without hearing its thunder. It is freedom from the law in the conscience that gives freedom of access into the heavenly Most Holy Place. That is what it means to “come boldly to the throne of grace without fear.” An old covenant believer had to wait until the coming of Christ to fulfill the promise made to the Fathers before he could sing “the terrors of law, with me have nothing to do. My Savior’s obedience and blood hide all my transgressions from view.” Understanding the access to God given to us by the atoning work of Christ begins with understanding the hanging of the veil in Exodus 40:21 and the rending of that same veil in Mathew 27:51. Scofield has an interesting footnote on Exodus 26:31.
The inner veil, type of Christ’s human body (Matt. 26:26; 27:50; Heb. 10:20). This veil, barring entrance into the holiest, was the most expressive symbol of the truth that “by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Rom. 3:20, Heb. 9:8). Rent by an unseen hand when Christ died (Matt. 27:51) thus giving instant access to God to all who come by faith in Him, it was the end of all legality; the way to God was open. It is deeply significant that the priests must have patched together again the veil that God had rent, for the temple services went on yet for nearly forty years. That patched veil is Galatianism—the attempt to put saint or sinner back under the law (Cf. Gal. 1:6-9). Anything but “the grace of Christ” is “another gospel,” and under anathema.[2]
In each case when the New Testament first introduced Christ as fulfilling one of the offices of Prophet, Priest, and King, it also accompanied each fulfillment with a miraculous sign. The sign showing Christ fulfilling and replacing the Aaronic priesthood is the rending of the veil recorded in Matthew 27:50, 51. I never realized how important this miraculous sign was until I started to write this book. Let’s try to unpack the theology behind the hanging and the rending of veil. The rending of the veil is one the greatest object lessons that God ever gave! Israel’s failure to learn the lesson taught in the rending of the veil shows how thick the veil of willful ignorance was that blinded them to the gospel that their Messiah had come (2 Cor. 3:14, 15). We will ask and try to answer some obvious questions. Our key text will be Matthew 27:50, 51.
Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom … (Matt. 27:50, 51a KJV).
First: What veil is Matthew talking about? He mentions it was the “veil of the temple.” He is referring to the veil that separated the Holy Place from the most Holy Place in the Tabernacle that God instructed Moses to build.
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 (Ex. 26:31).
Exodus 25-40 records the instructions, and the subsequent carrying out of those instructions that God gave Moses in exactly how to build the Tabernacle.
Second: When was the veil hung in place? The veil was the last thing put in place when the Tabernacle was built. Its hanging is described in Exodus 40.
Third: Why was the veil hung? The veil was an integral part of the Levitical system of worship, and as such, it contributed to the overall purpose of that system of worship. We do not have to guess at what that purpose was. God does not always tell us why he does, or does not, do a certain thing. Preachers and writers often speculate and “fill in” what God choose to leave out. This is especially true in the area of typology. As the Dutchman says, “some weird and wonderful” theology has been peddled by building a doctrine on your idea of what God meant but did not state. In the case of the hanging of the veil, we are specifically told what the purpose of the veil was as a part of the Levitical system of worship, and we are also told what the specific purpose of the veil was in its own right.
Look first at the veil as part of the Levitical system of worship. Hebrews is quite clear about what God was seeking to teach in that old system of worship. In Hebrews 9:1-8, the writer gives a short summary of the ritual on the Day of Atonement. He emphasized the High Priest entering the Most Holy Place with blood and sprinkling the mercy seat. Hebrews 9:8 then tells us what God was teaching in those symbolical actions.
The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing (Heb. 9:8).
Contrary to the Westminster Confession, the whole old covenant system of worship was designed to teach that the way into the Most Holy Place was totally off limits prior to the rending of the veil. Let me quote that verse using two other versions.
By these things the Holy Spirit means for us to understand that the way to the holy of holies was not yet open, that is, so long as the first tent and all that it stands for still exist.[3]
The Holy Spirit is making clear that the way into the holy place had not yet appeared as long as the old tabernacle was standing (Heb. 9:8, NET).
I do not want to beat a dead horse, but I find it hard to understand how anyone can believe that the old covenant believer had the same “free access to God” that a new covenant believer has when the Holy Spirit “has made it clear that the way into the holy place” had not yet been opened by the atoning work of Christ. Hebrews 9:8 is clear on the subject.
Exodus 40:21 tells us exactly what the purpose was in hanging the veil. It acted as a shield or protection of the Ark of the Covenant. The veil not only kept the people from entering the Most Holy Place, it also kept God in the Most Holy Place. If an Israelite would have beheld God face to face, that person would have been consumed. The cloud and fire that hovered over the Most Holy Place day and night was proof that God was dwelling among his people. The veil kept them from entering the Most Holy Place and being consumed, and the veil also enabled God to be among his people without consuming them. We will come back to this point and show why this was essential.
And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, hung the protecting curtain, and shielded the ark of the testimony from view, just as the Lord had commanded Moses (Ex. 40:21, NET).
Fourth: Scripture makes a special point of establishing exactly when the veil was rent in half. Notice how careful the Holy Spirit is. “At that moment” pinpoints preciously the time of the rending of the veil as immediately, “at that moment,” when Christ cried out, “It is finished,” and yielded up his spirit to the Father.
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 (Matt. 27:50, 51).
Fifth: Why was it torn from top to bottom? Probably to show it was the work of God and not man. Since Scripture does not specifically answer this question we qualify this as “probably.”
Sixth: What was God teaching by rending the veil, or put another way, what is the theology behind the rending of the veil? God was showing that the old covenant, and everything brought into being by that covenant, was now done away and has been, in each case, replaced by something better under the new covenant.
A short review of the dimensions of the tabernacle would be beneficial. The actual tabernacle was made up of three sections and measured 150’ x 75’. Inside the tabernacle was divided into two sections. The larger section was called the Holy Place. It was 30’ x 15’. Most of the priestly work was done by the sons of Aaron in this room. The smaller room was called the Most Holy Place. It was 15’ square. A veil separated the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. In the Most Holy Place was the Ark of the Covenant. No one was allowed to enter the Most Holy Place except the High Priest and he could enter, with blood, only on one day a year—the Day of Atonement.
We will begin to understand the ministry of the High Priest by looking at the theology of the veil. What is its primary theological significance? We have already noted the veil separated the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. The Most Holy Place was the holiest and most sacred spot on earth. The hanging of the veil closing off the Most Holy Place was the finishing act in building the Tabernacle. We read, “So Moses finished the work,” and when the veil was hung, the “glory of the Lord” filled the Most Holy Place. This meant that God had entered the Most Holy Place and his immediate presence was seen in a cloud by day and a fire in the cloud by night. God was literally “dwelling among his people.”
Then Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work.
Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out — until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels (Ex. 40:33-38).
In order to understand the meaning and importance of the veil, we cannot start with the veil. The veil itself was not holy. What was holy was what the veil “shielded” (Ex. 40:21). Remember Scripture says the veil “shielded the ark of the covenant.” The ark was a box 3.75 feet long, 2.25 feet wide and 2:25 feet high and overlaid within and without with pure gold. The lid of the box was called the “mercy seat” and was made of pure gold. There were two cherubs facing each other with outspread wings and made of pure gold. One cherub was placed at each end of the ark (Ex. 25:10, 11, 17-21). The Ark of the Covenant was designed so it could be picked up and carried without the ark itself ever being touched by human hands. It had four gold rings, one in each corner, and two staves overlaid with gold were put through the rings. The staves were like handles and were left in the ark and never removed. Four men would pick up the ark by the staves and carry the ark without actually touching it (Ex. 25: 12-15).
We need to ask why the Ark of the Covenant was so holy that a special room was built just to house that one piece of furniture and a special veil was hung that acted as a shield for it. The ark was not allowed to even be touched upon pain of death. The primary reason that the Ark of the Covenant, or as it is often called in Scripture, the Ark of the Testimony, is so holy is clearly stated in Scripture. Exodus 25:22 states the mercy seat, or lid of the ark, was the one and only place that God would meet with his people. The Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle was the dwelling place of God among his people. When the lid of the Ark of the Covenant, the mercy seat, was sprinkled with blood, God would meet with Aaron as the people’s representative. We will come back to this point when we look at Aaron’s work on the Day of Atonement. The new covenant mercy seat is a type of the cross. That is the only place that God will meet the sinner.
There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites (Ex. 25:22).
Very few commentators emphasize the fact that the explicit message of the religion of the old covenant was not “come and welcome.” It was “God is holy; you are a sinner, stay away.” It is true that the sacrificial system, feasts and rituals offered ceremonial cleansing that temporally “covered sin” and gave a promise of a future redeemer who would solve the sin problem by actually paying its debt, but there was nothing in the whole Mosaic religion that could give the conscience assurance to enter the Most Holy Place behind the veil. That must wait until the “time of reformation.” That must wait for a religion based on sovereign grace brought into being by the once for all sufficient sacrifice of our new covenant great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The old covenant religion was based on a just, holy, good law. Its function and purpose was to close man’s mouth in shame and make him admit his guilt. The old covenant believer had a hope in a coming Messiah but only the actual coming of the Messiah could fulfill hope. The Messiah would fulfill and replace the old covenant with a new and better covenant. The new covenant believer has a better hope but that hope also awaits a future fulfillment when faith gives way to sight at the second coming.
Hebrews 9 is a summary of what we have been saying. An understanding of the writer’s argument in this chapter will answer a lot of theological questions.
1 Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. [Don’t confuse the covenant with the “ordinances of divine services” that were essential to administer the covenant.]
2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.
3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;
4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.
6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.
7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:
8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: [The Tabernacle building stood until 70 AD. The Tabernacle system of worship ended with the rending of the veil. Judaism was God’s ordained religion. However, when our Lord ratified the New Covenant with his atoning blood, the Old Covenant system of religion was no longer God’s religion. It was now just an empty shell. What was once God’s revealed religion has now become only “the Jew’s religion” (Gal. 1:14). Any animal sacrifices offered after the rending of the veil was done in open rebellion to God’s revelation.]
9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; [The sacrificial system could “cover” sin for one year but it could not make atonement, actually pay for sin and “cleanse the conscience.” The conscience cannot not be satisfied until we are sure that God is satisfied, and nothing but the blood and righteousness of Christ will satisfy God’s holy character and covenant.]
10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.
11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience [Satisfying the conscience is essential to a valid assurance of eternal security in Christ. This is impossible as long as the conscience is under the Old Covenant.” Nothing in the Old Covenant could satisfy conscience] from dead works to serve the living God?
15 And for this cause [to effect the purging of the conscience] he is the mediator of the new testament [the better covenant], that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance (KJV).
In the following chapter we will look at the Day of Atonement as set forth in Leviticus 16. All agree that this chapter is setting forth the gospel in typology. Aaron was a clear type of Christ. Several things are important when emphasizing that Aaron’s ministry could not accomplish a real atonement for sin. Aaron and his ministry, along with the old covenant upon which it was based, had to be replaced. This does not mean that Aaron’s ministry was in any way wrong or defective or that Aaron was not faithful in doing what God told him to do. Replacing an old covenant with a new and better covenant is in no sense replacing a “bad” covenant with a “good” covenant. The old covenant and Aaron’s ministry totally fulfilled the purpose for which God gave it. Nothing in the old covenant was ever intended to satisfy either God’s holy character or the sinner’s conscience. The covenant and all of Aaron’s work was perfectly successful in fulfilling God’s intended purpose. It accomplished exactly what God deigned and purposed it to do. It was designed to convince the sinner that he was totally shutout from God because of his sin. The veil could not possibly show that fact any more clearly. The old covenant was a “killing covenant” that administered death.
In order for a Jew to be saved under the new covenant, he would have to give up nearly everything in his religion. The priest, the covenant, the sacrifices, the holy days and feasts, etc. were all gone and everything was now based on faith instead of sight. Aaron, the Israelite’s high priest, was visible in his work. The sinner could see Aaron go into the Most Holy Place with the lamb’s blood in a basin. He would look in awe at the beautiful special robes that Aaron only wore on the Day of Atonement. The sinner could see the cloud and fire in the cloud that assured him of God’s presence in the camp.
All of that is gone with the coming of the Messiah. The true high priest has ascended into heaven and we no longer see him visibly. We have his promise that he will return and take us to heaven, but in the mean time we face difficult times. It is only as we believe God’s promise that we can have hope in this present evil age. The Book of Hebrews assures the Jewish Christian that he has gained more than he lost in losing everything in the old covenant; he has gained, in Christ, more than he lost in Adam. He had to give up his special covenant, his priest, the whole sacrificial system, his special national privileges and many other things, but in every instance he received something better. He lost Aaron and gained Christ. He lost an altar and a sacrificial lamb and gained the cross and the true Lamb of God. John MacArthur has stated this clearly.
The epistle to the Hebrews is a study in contrast, between the imperfect and incomplete provisions of the Old Covenant, given under Moses, and the infinitely better provisions of the New Covenant offered by the perfect High Priest, God’s only Son, and the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Included in the “better” provisions are: a better hope, testament, promise, sacrifice, substance, country and resurrection. Those who belong to the New Covenant dwell in a completely new and heavenly atmosphere, they worship a heavenly Savior, have a heavenly calling, receive a heavenly gift, are citizens of a heavenly country, look forward to a heavenly Jerusalem, and have their names written in heaven.[4]
We will, like an Israelite, only grasp the wonder and glory of the new covenant as we see how that New Covenant surpasses the glory of the old covenant. The Jew could not move into the new covenant until he left the old covenant and all it brought into being. We must not try to Judaize Christianity by putting the Christian’s conscience under the law, and likewise, we must not try to Christianize the old covenant by reading distinctly new covenant blessings like the free access into God’s presence back to the old covenant experience. The rending of the veil was essential before there was access into God’s presence.
A Christian lawyer was witnessing to a young student. The boy said, “I could never become a Christian because you have to give up so much.” The lawyer asked the boy if he had any nickels in his pocket. The boy asked the man why he wanted to know if he had any nickels. The lawyer said, “I will give you a half a dollar for each nickel you have.” He boy went through his pockets carefully. After looking in vain for a nickel he said, “I have two dimes and a quarter.” The lawyer said, “Would you give me a nickel for this half a dollar if you had a nickel?” The boy said, “I would be a fool not to trade a nickel for a half dollar.” The lawyer said, “But you would have to give up your nickel.” The boy said, “But look what I would be getting in its place.” Many Jews, and some theologians, want to hold on to the nickels of the old covenant and miss the half dollars of new covenant.