What Was The Veil of the Temple?

What was meant by the veil in the temple being rent (or ripped) in two when Jesus died? 

/Why was this important

To understand this, we have to first know what the veil in the temple even as. 

Back before Jesus came into the world, God's people were required to sacrifice an animal to God as a way of getting his forgiveness for their sins. When the temple was built, people would take an animal there to sacrifice them to God as a way of atoning for their sin. Because sin separated  man from God, there had to be a way that he could get his forgiveness for it.

The reason for animal sacrifice was a temporary fix, if you will. A foreshadowing of what Jesus Christ would do to absolve the sins of the world when he died on the cross. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice that would be taking the place of the animals that had been used up to that point.  

"...without the shedding of innocent blood there is no forgiveness of sin." Hebrews 9:22

Some one had to shed his own blood for it and God sent his son Jesus to do that because no one in all humanity could. But up until then, it still had to be done, and because Jesus was not here yet, something else had to take its place until then. And so goes the reason for animal sacrifice. Which was done within the temple once the temple had been built.

In Jesus' lifetime, the Jewish people used the temple for  the worship of God according to the law of Moses, and they followed it religiously. In the temple, there was a veil that divided the Holy of Holies which was God's presence from the rest of the temple where men dwelt.This was because man was sinful and God could not be where sin was. Once a year, only the high priest was allowed to go beyond the veil to enter God's presence to atone for all of the sin of Israel. 

The significance of the veil being torn in two was that when Jesus died, the shedding of his blood was now all that was needed for the forgiveness of sin.It signified that now, the Holy of Holies was open to all people, no matter who they were. Both Jewish and Gentile. 

From then on, our High Priest is God and not a man. We no longer go through a man to get to God. We go to Jesus, who is the way to God, and he is the only way to him by the forgiveness of our sin which he shed his blood for us on the cross. John 14:6.

The veil was a symbolic reminder that Jesus is the only way that we can go to the Father. 

Thanks for stopping by Friends. God bless you!