Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Exodus 26 before reading the devotional below.
A Bible story about a bunch of curtains may seem a bit obscure, but we have to keep asking, “What does this reveal about the heart of God?” Why did God go into such detail about curtains? I mean, of all the things he could have covered with Moses, it seems like his tent decor is an odd choice.
Remember from our earlier posts throughout this Exodus series that God’s people are not able to come to him directly. He can communicate through a handful of prophets, and he designated the Israelite tribe of Levi to serve as the priests. These are the only chosen ones who can have access to God without falling down dead. And even then sometimes the priests didn’t make it out of his presence alive.
Today’s chapter describes the creation of what is known as the “Holy of Holies.” It was a room that only the priests could enter, and even they could only go in once a year. The people would tie a rope around the priest’s waist before he went in so that in case he fell down dead they could pull him out. In Matthew 27:50-52, at the exact moment of Jesus’ death, this curtain (replicated in the more permanent Temple building) was torn from top to bottom. God’s people would now have a way into his presence.
Here’s your freedom for today: God has made himself accessible to you. Jesus’ death ripped these curtains straight down the middle. The doors to God’s holiest of holy places were swung wide open for all to enter. Because the Israelites had lived with these curtain barriers dating all the way back to this very chapter in Exodus, the mental shift about what that torn curtain meant about Jesus would have been absolutely extraordinary. The symbolism of these supernaturally ripped curtains means that either Jesus was a heretic who should be condemned or he is truly God embodied in human form. A trespass of those curtains meant certain death for all the years leading up to Jesus. It was clear in that the old system was officially replaced.