Within the Holy Place of the Israelite tabernacle, was the inner room called the Holy of Holiesi; a most sacred room, a place no ordinary person could enter. It was God’s special dwelling place in the midst of His people.
A thick curtain separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place. This curtain, known as the “veil,” was made of fine linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn. These colors tied to the elements of creation. From sources such as Philo and Josephus the white linen represented earth, the blue wool was air; the red wool was fire; and the purple wool was water
There were figures of cherubim (angels) embroidered onto it. Cherubim, spirits who serve God, were in the presence of God to demonstrate His almighty power and majesty. They were the guardians of the throne of God. These cherubim were also worked into the innermost layer linen covering of the tent and as the menorah was thought to represent the tree of life, the cherubim were guarding the way to it.
The word “veil” in Hebrew means a screen, divider or separator that hides. The Hebrew word - פֹּרֶכֶת pôreketh, is a feminine noun meaning a separating curtain. i.e. (the sacred) screen:—the vail.
Margaret Barker has said, "The curtain separated time and eternity. In Hebrew, ‘hidden’, ‘eternal’ and Virgin are
all forms of the same word. ‘lm. Virgin implies eternal and hidden.
What was this curtain hiding? Essentially, it was shielding a holy God from sinful man. Whoever entered into the Holy of Holies was entering the very presence of God. In fact, anyone except the high priest who entered the Holy of Holies would die. Even the high priest, God’s chosen mediator with His people, could only pass through the veil and enter this sacred dwelling once a year, on a prescribed day called the Day of Atonement.
The picture of the veil was that of a barrier between man and God, showing man that the holiness of God could not be trifled with. God’s eyes are too pure to look on evil and He can tolerate no sin (Habakkuk 1:13). The veil was a barrier to make sure that man could not carelessly and irreverently enter into God’s awesome presence. Even as the high priest entered the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, he had to make some meticulous preparations: He had to wash himself, put on special clothing, bring burning incense to let the smoke cover his eyes from a direct view of God, and bring blood with him to make atonement for sins.
“But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.” (Hebrews 9:7)
So the presence of God remained shielded from man behind a thick curtain during the history of Israel. However, Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross changed that. When He died, the curtain in the Jerusalem temple was torn in half, from the top to the bottom. Only God could have carried out such an incredible feat because the veil was too high for human hands to have reached it, and too thick to have torn it. (The Jerusalem temple, a replica of the wilderness tabernacle, had a curtain that was about 60 feet in height, 30 feet in width and four inches thick.) Furthermore, it was torn from top down, meaning this act must have come from above.
Matt 27:50-51 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,
As the veil was torn, the Holy of Holies was exposed. God’s presence was now accessible to all. Shocking as this may have been to the priests ministering in the temple that day, it is indeed good news to us as believers, because we know that Jesus’ death has atoned for our sins and made us right before God. The torn veil illustrated Jesus’ body broken for us, opening the way for us to come to God. As Jesus cried out “It is finished!” on the cross, He was indeed proclaiming that God’s redemptive plan was now complete. The age of animal offerings was over. The ultimate offering had been sacrificed.
We can now boldly enter into God’s presence, “the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.” (Hebrews 6:19-20)
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body …let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.” (Hebrews 10:19-22)
The Holy of Holies is a representation of heaven itself, God’s dwelling place, which we have access now through Christ. In Revelations, John’s vision of heaven — the New Jerusalem — also was a perfect square, just as the Holy of Holies was (Revelation 21:16).
“For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. …
At the time of Christ crucifixion and death the temple veil was rent in twain opening the way to gain access to the Holy of Holies wherein lay the ark of the covenant also called the mercy seat and in Hebrew called kapporet כַּפֹּרֶת kappôreth. This was a covering over the sacred ark and comes from the root kaphar כפר, which means to cover and wiping away of sins and transgressions. It is the Hebrew word for Atonement.
The temple veil or poroketh comes from the root פרך parak and gives additional sacred meaning. This Hebrew root means to break apart, and more importantly it is used to mean a fragment, to crumble and crush something; to break into little pieces. It is freshly crushed grain. As mentioned above, the temple veil is the body of Christ; and here we find that the same curtain can be crushed grain and also a fragment of bread. When the veil of the temple was rent in twain at Christ death, he had just the night before instituted the Sacrament. Jesus Christ told his disciples that the broken bread he passed to each of them represented his body. His body was torn and broken, just as the temple veil.
Christ is the Veil!
In Jewish midrash Mary as a young girl wove the temple veil which would hang
in Harod's temple and would be rent at the crucifixion of her son.
Ancient text speak of a female goddess of wisdom. She was a weaver who wove the foundations of the earth.
(give references):
Eve spinning
Both the ancient Greeks and the Navajo have legends of spiders and weaving. In the Navajo mythos, Spider Woman is a beneficent helper who taught them to weave. She also taught them the spiritual meaning of the loom, the warp, and all the tools. On the other hand, in Greece, Athena who was jealous of her skill, punished Arachne by changing her into a spider when she appeared to have superior talent.
Often the weaving goddesses are also teachers of wisdom and midwifery. Ixchel is the 16th century name of the Mayan goddess of weaving and childbirth and, it seems likely, the moon. She was worshipped on the Isla des Mujeres (the Isle of Women) and is often seen with a hare.
The people who have become the modern day Berbers, renowned for their weaving, were present in North Africa before the Phoeniceans founded Carthage. They worshipped Tanit as the goddess of childbirth, weaving and the moon. Tanit was later equated with Astarte, the northwestern Semitic goddess of fertility, sexuality, and war.
In Japan, Amaterasu is the Shinto goddess of weaving and the sun. In the Balkans, it is Saule who spins and weaves sunbeams. However, most often the association of weaving goddesses is with the moon.
Among the ancient Egyptians the men did the weaving, but it was Isis who taught the women to spin. Neith (Nut), Egypt's ancient Goddes was also a weaver. Her name means “one who is,” and, according to E. A. Wallis Budge, weaving is synonymous with “being” in the Egyptian language. (The Gods of the Egyptians, E.A. Wallis Budge)
In Greece it was Athena Ergana who was the goddess of weaving and of the strategy of warfare. In one legend, Athena defeats Ares by weaving a trap and then stretching it across the charging warrior’s path. Those who spun for Athena were the Moirae (the Fates). The Moirae spun, measured, and cut the thread of human lives. They were often personified as three ugly and sometimes lame old women.
In Norse and Viking mythology, the Norns spun and wove the lives of humans. In The Fafnismol, Sigurd asks Fafnir: “Who are the Norns who… the babe from the mother bring?”(3) The Norns almost seemed a class of priestesses, tending the world tree In The First Lay of Helgi Hundisbane they are described as three women who:
Often the weaving goddesses are also teachers of wisdom and midwifery. Ixchel is the 16th century name of the Mayan goddess of weaving and childbirth and, it seems likely, the moon. She was worshipped on the Isla des Mujeres (the Isle of Women) and is often seen with a hare.
The people who have become the modern day Berbers, renowned for their weaving, were present in North Africa before the Phoeniceans founded Carthage. They worshipped Tanit as the goddess of childbirth, weaving and the moon. Tanit was later equated with Astarte, the northwestern Semitic goddess of fertility, sexuality, and war.
In Japan, Amaterasu is the Shinto goddess of weaving and the sun. In the Balkans, it is Saule who spins and weaves sunbeams. However, most often the association of weaving goddesses is with the moon.
Among the ancient Egyptians the men did the weaving, but it was Isis who taught the women to spin. Neith (Nut), Egypt's ancient Goddes was also a weaver. Her name means “one who is,” and, according to E. A. Wallis Budge, weaving is synonymous with “being” in the Egyptian language. (The Gods of the Egyptians, E.A. Wallis Budge)
In Greece it was Athena Ergana who was the goddess of weaving and of the strategy of warfare. In one legend, Athena defeats Ares by weaving a trap and then stretching it across the charging warrior’s path. Those who spun for Athena were the Moirae (the Fates). The Moirae spun, measured, and cut the thread of human lives. They were often personified as three ugly and sometimes lame old women.
In Norse and Viking mythology, the Norns spun and wove the lives of humans. In The Fafnismol, Sigurd asks Fafnir: “Who are the Norns who… the babe from the mother bring?”(3) The Norns almost seemed a class of priestesses, tending the world tree In The First Lay of Helgi Hundisbane they are described as three women who:
Mightily wove they
the web of fate,
While Bralund's towns
were trembling all;
And there the golden
threads they wove,
And in the moon's hall
fast they made them.(4)
Eve spinning
Sometimes, weaving goddesses are associated with the stars. In Germanic lore, it is said that what we call Orion’s Belt was really Frigga’s distaff. Holda knew the secret of turning flax into linen, but Frigga (her name means “the Beloved” and we remember her in the word “Friday,” which was Frigga’s day) wove the destiny the Norns had spun and was of help during birth.
The idea of three mysterious women spinners is repeated in so-called “faerie tales” from Germany to Puerto Rico. Although sometimes the girl is a princess and sometimes she is a poor orphan, she is always set to spin flax (sometimes into gold) by a cruel woman. Three grotesque old women rescue her by doing her spinning for her in exchange for an invitation to her wedding. At the wedding, they blame their ugliness on the hard work of spinning flax. This influences her father (whether he be merchant or king) to decree that, to save her beauty, she may no longer spin.
The idea of three mysterious women spinners is repeated in so-called “faerie tales” from Germany to Puerto Rico. Although sometimes the girl is a princess and sometimes she is a poor orphan, she is always set to spin flax (sometimes into gold) by a cruel woman. Three grotesque old women rescue her by doing her spinning for her in exchange for an invitation to her wedding. At the wedding, they blame their ugliness on the hard work of spinning flax. This influences her father (whether he be merchant or king) to decree that, to save her beauty, she may no longer spin.
These ancient weaver women were figures of mothers and especially the mother of God. Mary wove the veil of Christ himself, his flesh and blood, within her holy womb. The mother's veil is rent at birth. Death is cutting the woven tapestry off of the loom. Christ's flesh symbolized the temple veil and his torn flesh symbolized the torn sacramental bread which becomes a covenant symbol of taking his name upon us in renewal of our covenant of baptism; a new birth.
Veils, birth, flesh and blood all intertwine.
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