And the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom.
Mark 15:38
When people in the outer court look at the entry to the Holy place from the outside, they see badger skin – the top most covering.
I can tell you, it looks ugly.
It keeps away the rain -should it rain in the desert. But it sure looks ugly.
Many people look in disgust, bafflement, or confusion to this entry even today. This entry is called baptism of the Spirit. It is verified by the manifestation of speaking in tongues. And for many people it just looks as curious and ugly as the badger skin.
But inside the holy place, let me tell you, it is beautiful.
All this beautiful gear. The lamp stand. The table of showbread. The altar of incense.
The fire and light of the Holy Spirit. God’s wonderful provision showing Jesus and his twin – us – in the two stacks of bread. Our prayers and worship.
Yet there is more.
Many think that the curtain that separated the holy place from the holy of holies has been removed and that we see clearly the arc of covenant from the entry – as soon as we dared to cross through the badger skins.
But the bible tells us that the curtain was rent.
I am sure that in the natural temple it was replaced as fast as possible – or at least fixed. And in the spiritual realm?
Let’s back up.
- In the outer court we have natural light. We see with our natural eyes and try to behold and understand the bible in our mind.
- In the holy place we have the light of the lamp stand, the Holy Spirit. He deciphers the bible for us, bringing it to life.
- And in the most holy place, there is no light source but God himself. As is written in Rev 21, he is our only source of light in this realm.
If now the curtain were removed, the light of the lamp stand would shine into the most holy place. The realm of wanting to be more like Jesus and the one of being in Christ, he the head and we the body, would have become one. Unity and duality in one place.
I know that in our acceptance of the finished work of Christ on the cross we have been restored to feed from the tree of life instead the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Yet we still live as if we were in the old nature of knowledge of good and evil because we have been imprinted for so long.
But there has to be a realm of living out the truth, manifesting what has been since we entered the outer court – we are restored to the tree of life. The most holy place. The place of unity.
In the old covenant, only the high priest was allowed in the most holy place. That is still true. Only Christ, the high priest after the order of Melchisedek, is allowed in – he the head and we the body. Only in Christ are we allowed in.
When we stand in the holy place, there is still a curtain seemingly forming the back wall of the room. It hides the most holy place from our sight. We can dwell in this holy place, in its beauty, without seeing the room behind it. It is only when we go further and closely inspect not only the light of the Spirit – the lamp stand – depicting the gifts and fruits of the Spirit, not only the table of showbread depicting his provision and us being like him, but go on in prayer and worship, adoration and spiritual hunger that we find the rent in the curtain behind the altar of incense. Well hidden and only visible to the hungry and thirsty in the Spirit.
In the most holy place we find the arc of covenant. Two angels guarding it – just as there were two angels in the tomb, when Peter and John went to look for Jesus. The mercy seat. The manna – provision. The tablets of the law. And the staff of Aaron that budded. All within the arc.
Jesus is the true arc of covenant. And in him there is provision. In him, the law is written on our hearts, and in him there is authority and calling. Only in Christ.
To go from our salvation to the baptism of the Spirit, we had to press deeper. The same is true for our further progression into maturity of the sons of God, the most holy place, unity, oneness in Christ. It does not come automatic.
The passage starts with the feast of trumpets. Only the one that answers to these trumpets in the day of atonement will experience the feast of tabernacles.
This is that. This is the time we are in.
Are you ready? Are you hungry enough to press in and search the rent?