The Book of Revelation, Pt. 2: The Unveiling of The Most Holy Place
"The Revelation of Jesus Christ" - Revelation 1:1a
“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take pace. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” - Revelation 1:1-3
The Apocalypse
The book of Revelation isn’t actually about the “end times.” It’s not a narrative of how the world ends. It’s much more than that.
Today, the word “apocalypse” has become culturally and almost inextricably linked with the book of Revelation. We hear the word apocalypse and images of wastelands following nuclear war, multiple worldwide earthquakes, or a population reduced to bands of roaming marauders by a pandemic. But the Greek word that we have adapted into the word apocalypse doesn’t spell the end of the world or even the end of the world as we know it. At least, not in the way we imagine.
It actually spells the end of the world as everyone before Jesus’s death and resurrection knew it.
“Apocalypse” (from the Greek word apokálypsis)1 means several wonderful things that will start us off on the right foot as we open to the first paragraph of Revelation. It means “to uncover,” “to reveal,” “lifting of the veil,” “finding out something secret;” it means “revelation.” The title and first word of the book in Greek is “Apokalypsis.” So what is being uncovered? What veil is being lifted so that we might find out what is secret? What is the secret?
The way we will find the answer to that question will be the way we find the answer to every question when reading Revelation—we ask the rest of scripture what it means.
The Veil
The Most Holy Place—the man & his bride
If we look back to the earliest mention of veils in the Old Testament, the first thing we come to is the veiling of a woman before marriage, such as Rebekah in Genesis 24. The veil symbolized betrothal. It also physically symbolized the dynamic of hiding and revealing. It created a separation between the man and the woman until the consummation of the marriage when the veil would be removed and the man and wife could fully see, know, and be in the presence of one another. It communicated the separateness of something holy. Among human relationships, there is none so holy as the intimacy between a husband and wife. It is the most holy place. Which leads to the next way in which the veil was used in the Old Testament.
The Most Holy Place—the God-Man & his bride
“Make a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen, with cherubim skillfully worked into it. Hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood, overlaid with gold and standing on four silver bases. And hand the veil from the clasps and place the ark of the Testimony [covenant] behind the veil. So the veil will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.
Put the mercy seat on the ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy Place. And place the table outside the veil on the north side of the tabernacle, and put the lampstand opposite the table, on the south side.” - Exodus 26:31-35
The veiling of the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle symbolized the same reality the veiling of the bride symbolized. But instead of creating a separateness between betrothed humans, the veil of the Tabernacle created a separateness between God and his betrothed people (Isa. 54:5; 2 Cor. 11:2). And, of course, the tabernacle eventually was replaced by the temple, which operated in the same manner.
“Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. A tabernacle was prepared. In its first room were the lampstand, the table, and the consecrated bread. This was called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, containing the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. Inside the ark were the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. Above the ark were the cherubim of glory, overshadowing the mercy seat. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.
When everything had been prepared in this way, the priests entered regularly into the first room to perform their sacred duties. But only the high priest entered the second room, and then only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.
By this arrangement the Holy Spirit was showing that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing. It is an illustration for the present time, because the gifts and sacrificed being offered were unable to cleanse the conscience of the worshiper.” - Hebrews 9:1-10
The presence of God was in The Most Holy Place, or, we could say it was The Most Holy Place, and no one could enter this presence or know Him intimately, save the high priest who entered once a year on the dangerous and terrifying errand of atoning for the sins of Israel. I’m sure it was not an intimacy that brought feelings of warmth, by any means. Probably just relief at not being struck dead.
This was the world everyone knew before Jesus’ death and resurrection—a veil hiding them from the presence of God. But as we said, that death and resurrection was the end of the world as everyone knew it.
The Uncovering of the Most Holy Place
“And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.” - Matthew 27:51
We can’t allow the significance of this small detail mentioned at the crucifixion to be lost on us. The veil of the Tabernacle being torn communicated that the Most Holy Place could now be entered by anyone who dared to cross the threshold. The Most Holy Place—the presence of God—was open for all to see if they would only come.
And even that was just an allusion to what happened with the death and resurrection of Christ. It is truly He who is The Most Holy Place, “for in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col. 2:9). Just as the tearing of the veil pictured, The Most Holy Place of Christ’s body can now be entered by anyone who dares to cross the threshold. And he beckons us to dare! And don’t let the image of it being torn escape you! Likewise, Christ’s body was broken and with it he brought his blood, just as the high priest would enter “never without blood.” None could have entered The Most Holy Place had not the veil been parted for the high priest to walk through and finally torn so all could come. No one could enter God’s presence had the veil of Christ’s body not been broken and his blood brought for sacrifice.2 He has been lifted up for all to see and for any to enter the presence of God in him, if they would only come.
Sadly, as much as Jesus showed Israel while on earth that he was the true Most Holy Place, many did not come. Many, Jew and gentile alike, still don’t come.
“Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at the end of what was fading away.
But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the readings of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed. And even to this day when Moses if read, veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” - 2 Corinthians 3:7-18
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ”
So, looking back at what was historically unveiled through the rest of scripture… what can we conclude is being uncovered in the book of Revelation?
The bride is being unveiled in the presence of her husband. The Most Holy Place is uncovered, revealing the presence of God openly to the whole world. Christ is revealed as the fullness of God bodily in his life, death, and resurrection, and, through him, access to God is granted to any who will come.
This is not “The Revelation of the End of the World.” This is not “The Revelation of Cataclysmic Events.” This is not “The Revelation of the Beast System.”
This is “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” This book is the uncovering of what was secret and hidden before his appearance—the presence of God not only in Him, but with us.
In this book, Christ comes to his bride and communicates hope and assurance of his love for her. He shows her that how the world appears is not how it really is. Though he has invited the whole world to look upon him and to come, he pulls the curtain back (so to speak) just a little bit more to commune with his bride in a more intimate way by showing her things that are still hidden “to those who are perishing” (2 Cor. 4:3). He gives her a peak behind the last veil that still covers her eyes and into the throne room of heaven. To comfort her, He shows her his victory and how victorious she is in him, though she is marching swiftly to her death.
For this reason, it is said in the opening paragraph, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it,” but we will have to unpack that more next time.
The last veil to be torn
We know that those who are in Christ, who are born again, have had their veil removed. We are not just the betrothed, but we are the bride. In the sense we have just discussed, the veil has been removed. No longer are we spiritually blind and deaf to the person of Christ. No longer are we spiritually separated from God. And yet, we still are separated from God in the physical sense. Although a bride, we are still only betrothed in the sense that Paul spoke of us as being betrothed (2 Cor. 11:2). Here enters that previously mentioned dynamic of the “already and not yet” of eschatology.
We see him with spiritual eyes! And yet:
“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” - 1 Corinthians 13:12
“For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” - Romans 8:24-25
What does it mean that we see through a mirror dimly, that we only know in part, and that we hope for what we cannot see?
There is one “veil” that remains to be torn that will finally and fully make our faith sight, at the culmination of all things. At the risk of spoiling what lies ahead, I will only allude to it at this point:
“The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up…” - Revelation 6:14a
“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,” - Hebrews 6:19
“It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;” - Isaiah 40:22
The cosmos is a type of temple—or tabernacle. There will be a day when the sky, or firmament, (which cosmically separates the heavens and the earth, and metaphorically symbolizes the separation between the spiritual kingdom of heaven and the physical earth) will be torn asunder and then we shall see Christ and know him face to face.
The veil was torn. The veil is torn. The veil will be torn. This is “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” Already… and not yet.
Every Hue
PS. - If you would like something particularly magical to chew on, pay attention to the colors woven into the curtain of the tabernacle. Then go watch the sunset.
All things testify!
=https://biblehub.com/interlinear/revelation/1.htm
This is the symbolism and significance of taking the bread and the cup—Christ’s body and and blood. It pictures the reason we are able to enter and dwell in God’s presence and he in us.
This was one of the most incredible and eye opening things I’ve ever read. Most of my life, I’ve been fascinated with the book of Revelation and have tried to study it. I’ve never heard/read it put this way and this made it just “click” for me. It’s so beautiful! I cried at the end! Thank you!