Three Vails

“…And the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy.” Exodus 26:33

Dear Ones:

When Israel came out of Egypt, and was en route to the promised land, the Lord gave to her very clear, and specific instructions concerning the making of the tabernacle, or “tent of meeting.”  Part of those instructions had to do with the vail which would separate what is called the holy place and that called “the most holy,” or the “holy of holies.”  Why was there a vail between the two places?  Not only would it be a question of proximity to God, but also, a declaration of the full effect of the redemptive work of Christ, giving to the believer the highest privilege that a fallen, but redeemed, creature could have, that of communion with the eternally, HOLY God.  To grasp in some small measure what this means, we need to look at this issue of the holiness of God, and our own lack of holiness apart from Christ.  The word “holy” means separate, distinct, apart.  There is no other word in our vocabulary that can express how “other than we are,” God IS by nature and His attributes.  In Isaiah 55, the Lord tells us that his ways and thoughts differ from our own by a distance as great as that between heaven and earth.  They are incalculable, and cannot be fully understood.  Paul would use the word, “unsearchable.”  Equivalent to His thoughts and ways is His very nature…perfect, sinless, thoroughly good and righteous, and perfect love.  Though men and women were saved in the Old Testament by the same means as those in the New Testament, by Faith, there was a limit in the revelation of the nature of God, primarily of the love of God, as would be expressed in Christ.  But when Christ entered “…within the vail…for us…” (Heb. 6:20), He opened up heaven to us, the experience of which begins on this earth, one day to be fully realized before the Father.  So then, the first vail was a point of separation, not only with regard to the revelation of God’s redemptive work and its effects, but a point of entrance where Christ entered so that we, in Him, could come to KNOW God, entering into that quiet, yet certain place of communion by worship.  Christ made possible this truth:  “The Father who sees in secret will reward thee openly.” (Matt.6:6)

The second vail to consider is that which Moses put over his face after he came down from the mountain, after meeting with God. Scripture tells us that “…Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while He talked with him.” (Ex. 34:29)  When the people saw this, they were afraid to come near him.  What does this vail speak to us of?  True fellowship with God will have an effect on us.  Our skin may not shine like that of Moses, but we ARE changed by beholding the Lord Jesus in true worship.  As was the case of Moses, who did not know that his face shined, we will not know and recognize the change, but others will.

The final vail is one of blindness, the result of unbelief. The wonderful news is that Christ has done away with that vail, and removes it from our minds when we believe.  This “vail upon the heart” (2 Cor. 3:15) is taken away when we turn to the Lord.  It is then, by faith, that “…we ALL, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Cor. 3:18)

Dear Father, we thank Thee for the revelation of Thy holiness, and for Thy Son who penetrated beyond the vail, taking us with Him,  that we should have fellowship with the Thee.  Thank You for removing the vail from our eyes, minds, and hearts, so that we can behold the glory of the Lord Jesus by the Spirit.  Change us, transform us, to be like Him, for Thy glory.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Love, Dad