Hebrews 10:19-20 : "Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh."
Matthew 27:50-51: "Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom."That curtain verse has always stood out to me when the passion is read. It seems so oddly placed. An event that probably gave people telling the story a physical connection to the listeners of the time. Everyone knew the significance of the curtain in the great temple! But what did tearing the curtain mean? My Lutheran Study Bible has a note in Matthew that says "the tearing of the curtain is a sign that God is no longer present in the temple, God is present in Jesus, forsaken by God and crucified by human beings." The author of Hebrews seems to be saying the same thing. This physical barrier was as human as the hands that killed Jesus. The triune God can't be hidden, God is.
I am really amazed at the depth of this book. This author was a very intelligent scholar and I am sure the subtleties in this book are flying over my head so fast I should be sitting on a phone book.
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