Exodus 26:31-35

26:31 “You are to make a special curtain ¹  of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen; it is to be made ²  with cherubim, the work of an artistic designer. 26:32 You are to hang it ³  with gold hooks ⁴  on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold, set in ⁵  four silver bases. 26:33 You are to hang this curtain under the clasps and bring the ark of the testimony in there behind the curtain. ⁶  The curtain will make a division for you between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. ⁷  26:34 You are to put the atonement lid on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place. 26:35 You are to put the table outside the curtain and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle, opposite the table, and you are to place the table on the north side.

Matthew 27:51

27:51 Just then ⁸  the temple curtain ⁹  was torn in two, from top to bottom. The ¹⁰  earth shook and the rocks were split apart.

Hebrews 9:3

9:3 And after the second curtain there was a tent called the holy of holies.

Hebrews 10:20

10:20 by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us ¹¹  through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, ¹² 

[26:31]  ¹ tn Although translated “curtain” (traditionally “veil,” so ASV, NAB, NASB) this is a different word from the one used earlier of the tent curtains, so “special curtain” is used. The word פָרֹכֶת (farokhet) seems to be connected with a verb that means “to shut off” and was used with a shrine. This curtain would form a barrier in the approach to God (see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 289).

[26:31]  ² tn The verb is the third masculine singular form, but no subject is expressed. It could be translated “one will make” or as a passive. The verb means “to make,” but probably has the sense of embroidering both here and in v. 1.

[26:32]  ³ tn Heb “put it.”

[26:32]  ⁴ tn This clause simply says “and their hooks gold,” but is taken as a circumstantial clause telling how the veil will be hung.

[26:32]  ⁵ tn Heb “on four silver bases.”

[26:33]  ⁶ tn The traditional expression is “within the veil,” literally “into the house (or area) of the (special) curtain.”

[26:33]  ⁷ tn Or “the Holy of Holies.”

[27:51]  ⁸ tn Grk “And behold.”

[27:51]  ⁹ tn The referent of this term, καταπέτασμα (katapetasma), is not entirely clear. It could refer to the curtain separating the holy of holies from the holy place (Josephus, J. W. 5.5.5 [5.219]), or it could refer to one at the entrance of the temple court (Josephus, J. W. 5.5.4 [5.212]). Many argue that the inner curtain is meant because another term, κάλυμμα (kalumma), is also used for the outer curtain. Others see a reference to the outer curtain as more likely because of the public nature of this sign. Either way, the symbolism means that access to God has been opened up. It also pictures a judgment that includes the sacrifices.

[27:51]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[10:20]  ¹¹ tn Grk “that he inaugurated for us as a fresh and living way,” referring to the entrance mentioned in v. 19.

[10:20]  ¹² sn Through his flesh. In a bold shift the writer changes from a spatial phrase (Christ opened the way through the curtain into the inner sanctuary) to an instrumental phrase (he did this through [by means of] his flesh in his sacrifice of himself), associating the two in an allusion to the splitting of the curtain in the temple from top to bottom (Matt 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45). Just as the curtain was split, so Christ’s body was broken for us, to give us access into God’s presence.