Scripture Daily

Context No. 1664 of 4322 · Exodus

Context · Reflection

Exodus 26:31-37: in context

31“You shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cherubim. It shall be the work of a skillful workman. 32You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold; their hooks shall be of gold, on four sockets of silver. 33You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring the ark of the covenant in there within the veil. The veil shall separate the holy place from the most holy for you. 34You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant in the most holy place. 35You shall set the table outside the veil, and the lamp stand opposite the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south. You shall put the table on the north side. 36“You shall make a screen for the door of the Tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the embroiderer. 37You shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia, and overlay them with gold. Their hooks shall be of gold. You shall cast five sockets of bronze for them.

God gives Moses the design for the veil of the tabernacle: a curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet, worked with cherubim, hung on pillars of gold. This veil is to separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, and behind it the ark of the covenant with its mercy seat is to be placed. A second screen is made for the entrance of the tent. By God's own design, the innermost place, where his presence would dwell, is set apart behind the veil.

The veil, commanded here by God himself, teaches something about who God is. It was not an accident or an afterthought; God designed a barrier to set apart the place of his presence, so that one could not simply wander in. The Most Holy Place was closed off, curtained, reserved; God's presence was holy, not to be approached casually or on a whim. The veil said, in cloth and gold, that God is holy, and that to come near him is a serious thing, hedged with reverence. There is a lesson in that we can lose. We may grow so familiar with the nearness of God, and rightly grateful for the access Christ has opened, that we forget the holiness the veil was there to teach: that God is not our equal or our casual companion, but the Holy One, before whom even the approach was once carefully guarded. The access we have in Christ is a wonder precisely because the One we approach is holy; and it was never meant to breed a casual, careless familiarity, as though coming to God were a small thing. The veil reminds us to hold together two truths: that we may draw near, and that the One we draw near to is holy, to be approached with reverence and awe. To come to God casually, treating him as though he were common, forgets what the veil was there to say. The One who invites us near is the Holy One, and reverence, not casual familiarity, is the fitting way to come.

Have I grown so casual in my approach to God that I have forgotten the holiness the veil was designed to teach, and can I hold together both truths, that I may draw near through Christ, and that the One I draw near to is holy, to be approached with reverence and awe rather than careless familiarity?

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