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THE MESSAGE
Exodus 26:31
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
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- CondensedParallel Translations
"You shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, with Keruvim. The work of the skillful workman shall it be made.
And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made:
"And you will make a curtain of blue and purple and crimson yarns and finely twisted linen, the work of a skilled craftsman; he will make it with cherubim.
"Make a curtain of fine linen and blue, purple, and red thread, and have a skilled craftsman sew designs of creatures with wings on it.
"You are to make a special curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen; it is to be made with cherubim, the work of an artistic designer.
"You shall make a veil [to divide the two rooms] of blue, purple, and scarlet fabric and fine twisted linen, skillfully worked with cherubim on it.
"You shall also make a veil of violet, purple, and scarlet material, and fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skilled embroiderer.
Moreouer, thou shalt make a vaile of blewe silke, and purple, and skarlet, and fine twined linen: thou shalt make it of broydred worke with Cherubims.
"You shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skillful designer.
The Lord said: Make a curtain to separate the holy place from the most holy place. Use fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool, and embroidered with figures of winged creatures. Cover four acacia wood posts with gold and set them each on a silver stand. Then fasten gold hooks to the posts and hang the curtain there.
(v) "You are to make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely woven linen. Make it with k'ruvim worked in, that have been crafted by a skilled artisan.
And thou shalt make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined byssus; of artistic work shall it be made, with cherubim.
"Use fine linen and make a special curtain for the inside of the Holy Tent. Use blue, purple, and red yarn and sew pictures of Cherub angels into the curtain.
"And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it.
land you shall make a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet material, and fine twined linen, the work of a craftsman; with cherubim shall it be made;
"Make a curtain of fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool. Embroider it with figures of winged creatures.
“You are to make a curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen with a design of cherubim worked into it.
And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and crimson, and twined linen . One shall make it by the work of the skilled workman, with cherubs.
And thou shalt make a vayle of yalow sylke, scarlet, purple, & whyte twyned sylke. And Cherubyns shalt thou make theron of broderd worke,
And thou shalt make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubim the work of the skilful workman shall it be made:
And you are to make a veil of the best linen, blue and purple and red, worked with designs of winged ones by a good workman:
And thou shalt make a vayle of blewe silke, of purple, skarlet, and whyte twyned silke: of brodered worke with Cherubims shall ye make it.
And thou shalt make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen; with cherubim the work of the skilful workman shall it be made.
And thou shalt make a Uaile of blew, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linnen of cunning worke: with Cherubims shall it be made.
And thou shalt make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet woven, and fine linen spun: thou shalt make it cherubs in woven work.
And thou shalt make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubim the work of the cunning workman shall it be made:
Make a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen, with cherubim skillfully worked into it.
Thou schalt make also a veil of iacynt, and purpur, and of reed silk twies died, and of bijs foldid ayen bi broideri werk, and wouun to gidere bi fair dyuersite;
`And thou hast made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen, work of a designer; he maketh it [with] cherubs;
And you shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubim the work of the skillful workman it shall be made.
And thou shalt make a vail [of] blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of curious work: with cherubim shall it be made.
"You shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cherubim. The work of the skillful workman shall it be made.
"You shall make a veil woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen. It shall be woven with an artistic design of cherubim.
"For the inside of the Tabernacle, make a special curtain of finely woven linen. Decorate it with blue, purple, and scarlet thread and with skillfully embroidered cherubim.
"Make a curtain of blue and purple and red cloth and fine linen. It will be made with cherubim sewed into it by an able workman.
You shall make a curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it.
And thou shalt make a veil, of blue and purple, and crimson and fine-twined linen, - of the work of a skilful weaver, shall it be made, with cherubim;
Thou shalt make also a veil of violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine twisted linen, wrought with embroidered work and goodly variety:
"And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet stuff and fine twined linen; in skilled work shall it be made, with cherubim;
"You shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
a veil of: Exodus 36:35, Exodus 40:3, Exodus 40:21, Leviticus 16:2, Leviticus 16:15, 2 Chronicles 3:14, Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38, Luke 23:45, Ephesians 2:14, Hebrews 9:3-8, Hebrews 10:20, Hebrews 10:21
blue: Exodus 25:4, Exodus 35:6, Exodus 35:25, Exodus 35:35, Exodus 36:8
purple: Argaman, a very precious colour, extracted from the purpura, or murex, a species of shell-fish; and supposed to be the same with the costly and much celebrated Tyrian purple.
scarlet: Tolaâth; properly the worm whence the scarlet colour was produced; which grew in a coccus, or excrescence, of a shrub of the ilex kind, like the cochineal worm in the Opuntia of America; which is arranged under the same genus as the Arabic Kermez, which also denotes this colour.
cunning work: Exodus 26:1, Exodus 28:15, Exodus 38:23, 2 Chronicles 2:7-13, Psalms 137:5, Song of Solomon 7:1
cherubims shall it be made: Exodus 25:18
Reciprocal: Exodus 26:36 - of blue Exodus 27:9 - hangings for Exodus 27:16 - of blue Exodus 27:21 - without the veil Exodus 30:6 - veil Exodus 35:12 - the veil Numbers 3:31 - and the hanging Numbers 4:5 - they shall Esther 1:6 - white
Cross-References
But Abram told the king of Sodom, "I swear to God , The High God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, this solemn oath, that I'll take nothing from you, not so much as a thread or a shoestring. I'm not going to have you go around saying, ‘I made Abram rich.' Nothing for me other than what the young men ate and the share of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; they're to get their share of the plunder."
Abraham got up early the next morning, got some food together and a canteen of water for Hagar, put them on her back and sent her away with the child. She wandered off into the desert of Beersheba. When the water was gone, she left the child under a shrub and went off, fifty yards or so. She said, "I can't watch my son die." As she sat, she broke into sobs.
Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants and his son Isaac. He had split wood for the burnt offering. He set out for the place God had directed him. On the third day he looked up and saw the place in the distance. Abraham told his two young servants, "Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I are going over there to worship; then we'll come back to you."
Jacob said, "First, swear to me." And he did it. On oath Esau traded away his rights as the firstborn. Jacob gave him bread and the stew of lentils. He ate and drank, got up and left. That's how Esau shrugged off his rights as the firstborn.
Finally, Abimelech told Isaac: "Leave. You've become far too big for us."
So Isaac left. He camped in the valley of Gerar and settled down there. Isaac dug again the wells which were dug in the days of his father Abraham but had been clogged up by the Philistines after Abraham's death. And he renamed them, using the original names his father had given them.
Later that same day, Isaac's servants came to him with news about the well they had been digging, "We've struck water!" Isaac named the well Sheba (Oath), and that's the name of the city, Beersheba (Oath-Well), to this day.
Jacob learned that Laban's sons were talking behind his back: "Jacob has used our father's wealth to make himself rich at our father's expense." At the same time, Jacob noticed that Laban had changed toward him. He wasn't treating him the same. That's when God said to Jacob, "Go back home where you were born. I'll go with you." So Jacob sent word for Rachel and Leah to meet him out in the field where his flocks were. He said, "I notice that your father has changed toward me; he doesn't treat me the same as before. But the God of my father hasn't changed; he's still with me. You know how hard I've worked for your father. Still, your father has cheated me over and over, changing my wages time and again. But God never let him really hurt me. If he said, ‘Your wages will consist of speckled animals' the whole flock would start having speckled lambs and kids. And if he said, ‘From now on your wages will be streaked animals' the whole flock would have streaked ones. Over and over God used your father's livestock to reward me. "Once, while the flocks were mating, I had a dream and saw the billy goats, all of them streaked, speckled, and mottled, mounting their mates. In the dream an angel of God called out to me, ‘Jacob!' "I said, ‘Yes?' "He said, ‘Watch closely. Notice that all the goats in the flock that are mating are streaked, speckled, and mottled. I know what Laban's been doing to you. I'm the God of Bethel where you consecrated a pillar and made a vow to me. Now be on your way, get out of this place, go home to your birthplace.'" Rachel and Leah said, "Has he treated us any better? Aren't we treated worse than outsiders? All he wanted was the money he got from selling us, and he's spent all that. Any wealth that God has seen fit to return to us from our father is justly ours and our children's. Go ahead. Do what God told you." Jacob did it. He put his children and his wives on camels and gathered all his livestock and everything he had gotten, everything acquired in Paddan Aram, to go back home to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. Laban was off shearing sheep. Rachel stole her father's household gods. And Jacob had concealed his plans so well that Laban the Aramean had no idea what was going on—he was totally in the dark. Jacob got away with everything he had and was soon across the Euphrates headed for the hill country of Gilead. Three days later, Laban got the news: "Jacob's run off." Laban rounded up his relatives and chased after him. Seven days later they caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. That night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream and said, "Be careful what you do to Jacob, whether good or bad." When Laban reached him, Jacob's tents were pitched in the Gilead mountains; Laban pitched his tents there, too. "What do you mean," said Laban, "by keeping me in the dark and sneaking off, hauling my daughters off like prisoners of war? Why did you run off like a thief in the night? Why didn't you tell me? Why, I would have sent you off with a great celebration—music, timbrels, flutes! But you wouldn't permit me so much as a kiss for my daughters and grandchildren. It was a stupid thing for you to do. If I had a mind to, I could destroy you right now, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, ‘Be careful what you do to Jacob, whether good or bad.' I understand. You left because you were homesick. But why did you steal my household gods?" Jacob answered Laban, "I was afraid. I thought you would take your daughters away from me by brute force. But as far as your gods are concerned, if you find that anybody here has them, that person dies. With all of us watching, look around. If you find anything here that belongs to you, take it." Jacob didn't know that Rachel had stolen the gods. Laban went through Jacob's tent, Leah's tent, and the tents of the two maids but didn't find them. He went from Leah's tent to Rachel's. But Rachel had taken the household gods, put them inside a camel cushion, and was sitting on them. When Laban had gone through the tent, searching high and low without finding a thing, Rachel said to her father, "Don't think I'm being disrespectful, my master, that I can't stand before you, but I'm having my period." So even though he turned the place upside down in his search, he didn't find the household gods. Now it was Jacob's turn to get angry. He lit into Laban: "So what's my crime, what wrong have I done you that you badger me like this? You've ransacked the place. Have you turned up a single thing that's yours? Let's see it—display the evidence. Our two families can be the jury and decide between us. "In the twenty years I've worked for you, ewes and she-goats never miscarried. I never feasted on the rams from your flock. I never brought you a torn carcass killed by wild animals but that I paid for it out of my own pocket—actually, you made me pay whether it was my fault or not. I was out in all kinds of weather, from torrid heat to freezing cold, putting in many a sleepless night. For twenty years I've done this: I slaved away fourteen years for your two daughters and another six years for your flock and you changed my wages ten times. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not stuck with me, you would have sent me off penniless. But God saw the fix I was in and how hard I had worked and last night rendered his verdict." Laban defended himself: "The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flock is my flock—everything you see is mine. But what can I do about my daughters or for the children they've had? So let's settle things between us, make a covenant—God will be the witness between us." Jacob took a stone and set it upright as a pillar. Jacob called his family around, "Get stones!" They gathered stones and heaped them up and then ate there beside the pile of stones. Laban named it in Aramaic, Yegar-sahadutha (Witness Monument); Jacob echoed the naming in Hebrew, Galeed (Witness Monument). Laban said, "This monument of stones will be a witness, beginning now, between you and me." (That's why it is called Galeed—Witness Monument.) It is also called Mizpah (Watchtower) because Laban said, " God keep watch between you and me when we are out of each other's sight. If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives when there's no one around to see you, God will see you and stand witness between us." Laban continued to Jacob, "This monument of stones and this stone pillar that I have set up is a witness, a witness that I won't cross this line to hurt you and you won't cross this line to hurt me. The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor (the God of their ancestor) will keep things straight between us." Jacob promised, swearing by the Fear, the God of his father Isaac. Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and worshiped, calling in all his family members to the meal. They ate and slept that night on the mountain. Laban got up early the next morning, kissed his grandchildren and his daughters, blessed them, and then set off for home.
Saul did something really foolish that day. He addressed the army: "A curse on the man who eats anything before evening, before I've wreaked vengeance on my enemies!" None of them ate a thing all day.
But David said, "Your father knows that we are the best of friends. So he says to himself, ‘Jonathan must know nothing of this. If he does, he'll side with David.' But it's true—as sure as God lives, and as sure as you're alive before me right now—he's determined to kill me."
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And thou shalt make a vail,.... The use of this, as follows, was to divide the holy place from the most holy place in the tabernacle; it has its name from hardness, it being very stiff and strong, for it was made of thread six times doubled, and was four fingers thick, as the Jewish writers say: this vail may represent the sin of man, which separates between God and man, was removed by the death of Christ when the vail was rent, and so the way to heaven opened; or the obscurity of the legal dispensation, the Gospel being veiled under the shadows of the law, and the way into the holiest of all then not so manifest, and particularly the ceremonial law, which separated between Jew and Gentile, and is now abolished by the death of Christ; or rather it was typical of the human nature of Christ, his flesh, called in allusion to it the vail of his flesh, Hebrews 10:20. This vail was made of
blue, and purple, and scarlet, of fine twined linen of cunning work; it seems to have been made of the same materials, and in the same curious manner of workmanship with the curtains of the tabernacle, Exodus 26:1, and was itself no other than a curtain, and so it is interpreted by some Jewish writers x. It being made of "fine linen" denotes the purity of Christ, of his nature, life, and righteousness; of "twined linen", his strength, courage and steadiness; "of blue, purple, and scarlet", the several graces of the Spirit, with which his human nature was adorned, his flaming zeal for his Father's glory and the good of his people, his bloody wounds, sufferings, and death, the preciousness of his blood, the dignity of his person, and his glorious exaltation, purple and scarlet being the colours wore by kings:
with cherubim shall it be made; signifying either the ministration of angels to him in his incarnate state, or the mission of Gospel ministers by him, see Psalms 139:15.
x Vid. R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 37. 2.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
(Compare Exodus 36:8-33.) The tabernacle was to comprise three main parts, the tabernacle Exodus 26:1-6, more strictly so-called, its tent Exodus 26:7-13, and its covering Exodus 26:14 (Compare Exodus 35:11; Exodus 39:33-34; Exodus 40:19, Exodus 40:34; Numbers 3:25, etc.). These parts are very clearly distinguished in the Hebrew, but they are confounded in many places of the English Version (see Exodus 26:7, Exodus 26:9, etc.). The tabernacle itself was to consist of curtains of fine linen woven with colored figures of cherubim, and a structure of boards which was to contain the holy place and the most holy place; the tent was to be a true tent of goats’ hair cloth to contain and shelter the tabernacle: the covering was to be of red rams’ skins and “tachash” skins Exodus 25:5, and was spread over the goats’ hair tent as an additional protection against the weather. On the external form of the tabernacle and the arrangement of its parts, see cuts at the end of the chapter.
Exodus 26:1
The tabernacle - The משׁכן mı̂shkân, i. e. the dwelling-place; the definite article regularly accompanies the Hebrew word when the dwelling-place of Yahweh is denoted. But in this place the word is not used in its full sense as denoting the dwelling-place of Yahweh: it denotes only the tabernacle-cloth Exodus 26:6. The word is, in fact, employed with three distinct ranges of meaning,
(1) in its strict sense, comprising the cloth of the tabernacle with its woodwork (Exodus 25:9; Exodus 26:30; Exodus 36:13; Exodus 40:18, etc.);
(2) in a narrower sense, for the tabernacle-cloth only (Exodus 26:1, Exodus 26:6; Exodus 35:11; Exodus 39:33-34, etc.);
(3) in a wider sense, for the tabernacle with its tent and covering (Exodus 27:19; Exodus 35:18, etc.).
With ten curtains - Rather, of ten breadths. Five of these breadths were united so as to form what, in common usage, we should call a large curtain Exodus 26:3. The two curtains thus formed were coupled together by the loops and taches to make the entire tabernacle-cloth Exodus 26:6.
Of cunning work - More properly, of the work of the skilled weaver. The colored figures of cherubim (see Exodus 25:4, Exodus 25:18) were to be worked in the loom, as in the manufacture of tapestry and carpets (see Exodus 26:36 note). On the different kinds of workmen employed on the textile fabrics, see Exodus 35:35.
Exodus 26:3
Each curtain formed of five breadths (see Exodus 26:1), was 42 feet in length and 30 feet in breadth, taking the cubit at 18 inches.
Exodus 26:4
The meaning appears to be, “And thou shalt make loops of blue on the edge of the one breadth (which is) on the side (of the one curtain) at the coupling; and the same shalt thou do in the edge of the outside breadth of the other (curtain) at the coupling.” The “coupling” is the uniting together of the two curtains: (“selvedge” is the translation of a word signifying extremity or end).
Exodus 26:5
The words “in the edge,” etc. mean, “on the edge of the breadth that is at the coupling in the second (curtain).”
Exodus 26:6
Taches of gold - Each “tache,” or clasp, was to unite two opposite loops.
Couple the curtains - i. e. couple the two outside breadths mentioned in Exodus 26:4.
Exodus 26:7
A covering upon the tabernacle - A tent over the tabernacle. The Hebrew word here used, is the regular one for a tent of skins or cloth of any sort.
Exodus 26:9
tabernacle - tent, not tabernacle. The passage might be rendered, “thou shalt equally divide the sixth breadth at the front of the tent.” In this way, half a breadth would overhang at the front and half at the back.
Exodus 26:10
Or: “And thou shalt make fifty loops on the edge of the outside breadth of the one (curtain) at the coupling, and fifty loops on the edge of the outside breadth of the other (curtain) at the coupling.”
Exodus 26:11
In the tent, clasps of bronze were used to unite the loops of the two curtains; in the tabernacle, clasps of gold, compare Exodus 26:6, Exodus 26:37.
Couple the tent together - Not “covering,” as in the margin. By “the tent” is here meant the tent-cloth alone.
Exodus 26:13
The measure of the entire tabernacle-cloth was about 60 ft. by 42; that of the tent-cloth was about 67 ft. by 45. When the latter was placed over the former, it spread beyond it at the back and front about 3 ft. (the “half-curtain,” Exodus 26:9, Exodus 26:12) and at the sides 18 inches.
Exodus 26:16
The board would therefore be about 15 ft. long, and 27 in. broad.
Exodus 26:18
The entire length of the structure was about 45 ft. in the clear, and its width about 15 ft.
The south side southward - Or, the south side on the right. As the entrance of the tabernacle was at its east end, the south side, to a person entering it, would be on the left hand: but we learn from Josephus that it was usual, in speaking of the temple, to identify the south with the right hand and the north with the left hand, the entrance being regarded as the face of the structure and the west end as its back.
Exodus 26:19
Sockets - More literally, bases, or foundations. Each base weighed a talent, that is, about 94 lbs. (see Exodus 38:27), and must have been a massive block. The bases formed a continuous foundation for the walls of boards, presenting a succession of sockets or mortices (each base having a single socket), into which the tenons were to fit. They served not only for ornament but also for the protection of the lower ends of the boards from the decay which would have resulted from contact with the ground.
Exodus 26:22
The sides of the tabernacle westward - Rather, the back of the tabernacle toward the west. See Exodus 26:18.
Exodus 26:23
In the two sides - Rather, at the back.
Exodus 26:24
The corner boards appear to have been of such width, and so placed, as to add 18 in. to the width of the structure, making up with the six boards of full width Exodus 26:22 about 15 ft. in the clear (see Exodus 26:18). The “ring” was so formed as to receive two bars meeting “beneath” and “above” at a right angle.
Exodus 26:27
For the two sides westward - For the back toward the west. Compare Exodus 26:22,
Exodus 26:28
In the midst of the boards - If we suppose the boards to have been of ordinary thickness Exodus 26:16, the bar was visible and passed through an entire row of rings. In any case, it served to hold the whole wall together.
Exodus 26:31
Vail - Literally, separation (see Exodus 35:12 note).
Exodus 26:33
Taches - Not the same as the hooks of the preceding verse, but the clasps of the tabernacle-cloth (see Exodus 26:6).
Exodus 26:34-35
See Exodus 25:10-16, Exodus 25:23, Exodus 25:31.
Exodus 26:36
The door of the tent - The entrance to the tent, closed by the “hanging” or curtain Exodus 27:16.
Wrought with needlework. - The work of the embroiderer. The entrance curtain of the tent and that of the court Exodus 27:16 were to be of the same materials, but embroidered with the needle, not made in figures in the loom (see Exodus 26:1; Exodus 35:35).
Exodus 26:37
Rice pillars - These, it should be observed, belonged to the entrance of the tent, not, in their architectural relation, to the entrance of the tabernacle.
Sockets of brass - Their bases (see Exodus 26:19) were of bronze (like the taches of the tentcloth, Exodus 26:11), not of silver, to mark the inferiority of the tent to the tabernacle.
We are indebted to Mr. Fergusson for what may be regarded as a satisfactory reconstruction of the sanctuary in all its main particulars. He holds that what sheltered the Mishkan was actually a tent of ordinary form, such as common sense and practical experience would suggest as best suited for the purpose.
According to this view the five pillars at the entrance of the tent Exodus 26:37 were graduated as they would naturally be at the entrance of any large tent of the best form, the tallest one being in the middle to support one end of a ridge-pole.
Such a ridge-pole, which must have been sixty feet in length, would have required support, and this might have been afforded by a plain pole in the middle of the structure. Over this framing of wood-work the tent-cloth of goats’ hair was strained with its cords and tent-pins in the usual way. (See cut.)
Above the tent-cloth of goats’ hair was spread the covering of red rams’ skins.
The five pillars, to reach across the front of the tent, must have stood five cubits (about 7 1/2 ft.) apart. Their heads were united by connecting rods (“fillets” Exodus 27:10) overlaid with gold Exodus 36:38. The spaces at the sides and back may have been wholly or in part covered in for the use of the officiating priests, like the small apartments which in after times skirted three sides of the temple. It was probably here that those portions of the sacrifices were eaten which were not to be carried out of the sacred precincts Leviticus 6:16, Leviticus 6:26. We may also infer that priests lodged in them. Compare 1 Samuel 3:2-3.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Exodus 26:31. Thou shalt make a veil. — פרכת parocheth, from פרך parach, to break or rend; the inner veil of the tabernacle or temple, (2 Chronicles 3:14), which broke, interrupted, or divided between the holy place and the most holy; the Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was standing. Compare Hebrews 9:8. The Septuagint constantly render it by καταπετασμα. Does not the Hebrew name פרכת parocheth moreover intimate the typical correspondence of this veil to the body or flesh of Christ? For this καταπετασμα or veil was his flesh, (Hebrews 10:20), which, being rent, affords us a new and living way into the holiest of all, i.e., into heaven itself. Compare Hebrews 10:19-20; Hebrews 9:24. And accordingly when his blessed body was rent upon the cross, this veil also (το καταπετασμα του ιερου) εσχισθη, was RENT in twain from the top to the bottom; Matthew 27:51. - See Parkhurst, under the word .
The veil in the tabernacle was exceedingly costly; it was made of the same materials with the inner covering, blue, purple, scarlet, fine twined linen, embroidered with cherubim, c. It served to divide the tabernacle into two parts: one, the outermost, called the holy place the other, or innermost, called the holy of holies, or the most holy place. In this was deposited the ark of the covenant, and the other things that were laid up by way of memorial. Into this the high priest alone was permitted to enter, and that only once in the year, on the great day of atonement. It was in this inner place that Jehovah manifested himself between the cherubim. The Jews say that this veil was four fingers' breadth in thickness, in order to prevent any person from seeing through it; but for this, as Calmet observes, there was no necessity, as there was no window or place for light in the tabernacle, and consequently the most simple veil would have been sufficient to obstruct the discovery of any thing behind it, which could only be discerned by the light that came in at the door, or by that afforded by the golden candlestick which stood on the outside of this veil.
