Torn Veil

Why was the temple veil torn in two? Because it was the priests that killed Jesus.

Yes, technically, they had the Romans do the dirty work, but Pilate had declared him innocent, it was the priests who manipulated the political situation to have Jesus killed. It was the priests who declared him guilty and worthy of death. It was the priests who arranged to have him arrested, who had judged him before he even went on trial. The priests— those who were the rulers of the Jewish people throughout the world, who were charged with the upholding of God’s law, who were the mediators of God’s grace and covenant— they took the most righteous man and declared him guilty and killed him. They took the one that best represented God’s will and they put him in shame outside the city of God.

Because of this, the cult, the very temple/priest system itself was no longer worthy of God’s glory. The glory that filled the Holy of Holies from the beginning of the temple, the presence of God that was represented by the lights on Hanukah—that glory departed from the temple, leaving destruction in its wake. All of the spiritual power that the Temple represented, it was gone. The priests didn’t know this—they weren’t aware of God’s presence for a while. So for them the veil ripping was a problem they had to take care of, possibly a form of vandalism. But for God is was the decisive moment—no longer would the presence of God be found in the Temple. Rather, it would be found in the person of Jesus and His people.