Now, most people automatically think of the rending of the Temple curtain at the death of Christ.  But that’s not what the text says.  It says, “[he] opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.” The torn curtain was the flesh of the Son.  In other words, on the cross Christ’s flesh was torn asunder that we might have access to God. Let me put it another way.  God, in His Son, took upon Himself the curse of being a covenant breaker.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to own a time machine?  Who wouldn’t want to return as a spectator to the most significant moments in history?  To witness bishop Leo face off with Attila the Hun outside the gates of Rome or Farel beseech Calvin to stay in Geneva or the Westminster Assembly debate ecclesiology would be thrilling to understate the matter.  But what about taking a trip back to the time of Genesis 15?  A strange sight indeed! We would watch Abram engage in the strange ritual of slaughtering animals and then dividing them in halves to form a path. But though bizarre to us it would have been familiar to him.  He was preparing to enter a treaty with the Great King of heaven and earth.

In those days, kings and inferiors would engage in treaty covenants like the one in Genesis 15. The King would stipulate the conditions of the covenant and in walking through the halves the servant would be promising to keep the terms.  Failure to fully comply would mean sharing a fate akin to the animals!

However, on the evening of Genesis 15 a wonder occurred.  God appeared under a theophany and passed through the halves.  In other words, God, the great King, substituted himself for Abram! God promised to walk before Himself and be blameless for Abram!  This is the very idea we find in Isaiah 59:16.  God saw that there was no one to intercede for the people and so “his own arm brought salvation.”  How?  The same verse goes on to say, “His righteousness upheld Him” in the face of His own righteous requirement on behalf of others.

Now, the passage to bring alongside of Genesis 15 is Hebrews 10:19-21.  There we discover that we enter into the presence of God through the veil.  Now, most people automatically think of the rending of the Temple curtain at the death of Christ.  But that’s not what the text says.  It says, “[he] opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.” The torn curtain was the flesh of the Son.  In other words, on the cross Christ’s flesh was torn asunder that we might have access to God. Let me put it another way.  God, in His Son, took upon Himself the curse of being a covenant breaker.  To say it differently, what was to happen to Abram for a breach of the covenant was happening to God in the Son.

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