veil

1. Worn by Hebrew women at the time of marriage (Gen. 24: 65–7). Also by Moses after he had been ‘conversing’ with God (Exod. 34: 33): the story was taken up by Paul (2 Cor. 3: 13), who compared to Moses' disadvantage the action of veiling his face so that the people should not realize that the reflected glory had come to an end with the complete openness he (Paul) displayed towards the Corinthians.

2. The curtain which separated the Holy of Holies in the Temple from the Holy Place (2 Chron. 3: 14), through which only the High Priest passed (Lev. 16: 12). The gospel writers claim that it was torn at Jesus' death (Mark 15: 38), symbolizing the access to God which Jesus has opened for everybody. According to Josephus the veil was a tapestry on which the heavens were depicted. Mark's readers might have recalled that at Jesus' baptism the heavens were rent (Mark 1: 10). At the baptism, Jesus' role was signified; at the crucifixion it was consummated.