Good morning. Today is Tuesday, July 28th!

🥳 Congratulations on starting today with God, and thank you for letting us be a part of it.

📖 Verse Of The Day

— Matthew 27:51

🧠 Devotional

Why Did the Temple Curtain Tear?

“At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” Matthew 27:51

This is one of the most important moments in the entire Bible. The curtain tears the instant Jesus dies. But why?

To understand the curtain, you have to go back to the beginning.

God created a perfect world and made humanity in His image to know Him, reflect Him, and enjoy a relationship with Him. There was no sin, no death, and no separation between God and man.

Then everything changed.

When Adam and Eve sinned, humanity became separated from a holy God. Sin entered the world, death followed, and a barrier now stood between the Creator and His creation.

That’s the great problem the rest of the Bible answers.

Because God is perfectly holy, sinful people could not simply walk into His presence. So under the Old Covenant, God established a way for people to approach Him. A priest acted as a mediator between God and the people, offering sacrifices for sin. Once each year, the high priest entered the Most Holy Place, beyond a massive curtain, carrying the blood of a spotless sacrifice. Behind that curtain was the Ark of the Covenant, where God promised His presence would dwell.

That curtain was a constant reminder that sin separated humanity from God.

But every part of that system was pointing to someone greater.

Jesus became the true High Priest. He became the spotless Lamb of God. He fulfilled the Law perfectly. He became the final sacrifice. Hebrews even says the temple curtain represented His body (Hebrews 10:20).

So when Jesus cried, “It is finished,” and gave up His spirit, the curtain was torn from top to bottom.

Notice the direction. Not bottom to top, as if people had reached God. Top to bottom. God tore it.

The barrier was gone.

Because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, we no longer need an earthly priest to stand between us and God. Christ is our mediator forever. Through Him, our sin is forgiven, His righteousness is credited to us, and we now have direct access to the Father.

The torn curtain wasn’t just a miracle. It was God’s declaration that the way into His presence had been opened through Jesus Christ.

What stood closed for centuries was opened in a single moment, not because humanity found its way to God, but because God made a way for humanity.