about the ark and the veil . . . .

I'm studying about the plans for the Tabernacle . . . wow, so many breathless things there!

The Ark of God - covered with gold, the testimony on the inside. This speaks of integrity - I can't just look good on the outside - it's what on the inside that makes up the value.

And the veil - I've heard that the veil being rent meant we have access to the Holy Place, that the old covenant is done away with now, that we no longer have to do the sacrifices to approach him. Okay, I agree that it means we have access to God - even me, as a non-priest woman Gentile person. But I have read about some other traditions that might make a little more sense of why it was written that the veil was rent.

Traditionally (in the Talmud), the Jews say that whoever is closest to a person when he dies is obligated to tear/rent his clothes, as a sign of mourning and anguish. They also say (in another place in the Talmud) that the veil or the curtain is God's tunic (so even God had to wear a tunic!). If God rent his tunic at the time of the death of Jesus, then it means that he was the closest one to Jesus at the time of his death - and it is like a Father who rents his clothes at the death of his Son. That leaves me breathless!