Lent Devotion | Day 34

Mark 15:37-39 (NLT)

Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!”

When we think of a veil today, we often envision a sheer wedding veil. However, the temple veil was anything but! It was thick and heavy and woven of blue, purple and crimson yarn and fine linen, with cherubim worked into it. Tearing it was beyond human strength. It hung in the temple to mark off the place where God’s presence dwelled on earth, the holy of holies. Only one priest once a year could enter the holy of holies, and to do so otherwise meant death.

The veil was a physical representation of our separation from the presence of God. Yet throughout scripture, God promises that he’ll restore creation to himself. As our God parted the Red Sea to make a way for his people to get to the place he had promised, so he did when, through the death of Jesus, he tore the veil from top to bottom and made a way for us to be restored to his presence, where we were created to dwell.

With expectancy, ask God to draw you more deeply into his presence today.