Heaven's Royal Sacrifice--Blue--Day 3

 

Blue

The Veil

(Depending on which version of the Bible you use, you may find this word translated "curtain".  But I compared it to the word for curtain in other parts of the tabernacle, and it's a different word.  While I typically read the Christian Standard Bible (CSB), I switched to the English Standard Version (ESV) for this.)

When I got married back in the 1900s, a veil on the bride was traditional.  A comb or a crown or a pouf  would attach on top of your head and flow down the back AND the front, over your face.  The front part of the veil could be raised and pushed back either when the father gave the bride away to the groom; or it could be lifted by the groom to give his bride the first kiss.  Veils have changed in fashion and function, but the origin is to separate the bride from the groom until the appropriate time.  

 Bezalel, the man gifted skill for every craft, took the instructions in Exodus 25, and fulfilled them obediently in Exodus 36:35-36 (obedience) The instructions for the veil for the tabernacle seem pretty simple when you think of its important duty.  It kept every one but the high priest out of the Holy of Holies.  The high priest could go behind the veil once a year, on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).  The day was so weighty--the sacrifice had to be worthy to atone for the sins of the whole Hebrew community, including the high priest.  The stakes were so high for the high priest  that bells were sewn around the hem of his robe and he would move continously while offering the sacrifice.  If the bells stopped ringing, it means he had died due to an unworthy sacrifice.  Exodus 28:35 (bells)

The first color the weavers were instructed to include was blue.  The word for blue here is "tekeleth", which could mean blue, purple, or violet.  But according to most Jewish scholars that I could find, they all agreed that it would be what we know as "sky blue".  The tradition is that the color was extracted from a murex snail.   (The verification was lost over the centuries, but people a lot smarter than I mostly agree. If anyone is interested, I will send some links that I read and compared.)  The secretion from the snail is yellow, but when left in the sunlight it turns the most beautiful blue. Symbolically, blue means divine, eternal, pure.  According to Mischpacha--A Jewish Family Weekly publication, rabbi Herzog  said the blue should "draw our thoughts to heaven, to God, and to His commands."  They also believed that this color--sky blue--was similar to the color of the throne of God.  We can somewhat verify this without leaving Exodus.  In chapter 24,  

"Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu [Aaron's oldest two sons], and 70 of Israel's elders went up the mountain and saw the God of Israel.  Beneath His feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself.  God did not harm the Israelite nobles; they saw Him, and they ate and drank."

This is a lapis lazuli today...we can only imagine what they look like in heaven!!

Can you imagine the sights, sounds, and smells around the tabernacle as the sacrifices were made, blood was sprinkled, fat and entrails were burned?  It's exhausting, disgusting work. When the priests looked around the tabernacle at the curtains, blue thread woven first, did it draw their thoughts to heaven? Did they look down at their priestly garments, woven with care but covered in blood, and wish for the purity of heaven?  Did they think of the commands given to them by God-- whose Presence was right behind the veil in the ark of the covenant--and pray for Divine strength?  Did they wake up to perform morning sacrifices with the scent of evening sacrifices still in the air,  and think "We can't do this forever!!" Did their lack make them long for a Forever Worthy sacrifice, one who would finish this exhausting, disgusting, never ending work for good?  The blue yarn taught them to "Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens!!" (Isaiah 40:26) 💙