The veil in Scripture carries two layers of meaning that converge at the cross. The paroket — the thick woven curtain of the Tabernacle and Temple — separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, where God's glory dwelt above the ark. It was the physical boundary between sinful humanity and the holy presence of God. Only the High Priest could pass through it, once a year, with blood. Its tearing in two from top to bottom at the moment of Christ's death (Matt 27:51) is one of the most theologically loaded events in all of Scripture — signifying that the barrier between God and humanity has been permanently removed by the atoning work of Christ. Paul uses the veil differently in 2 Corinthians 3: the veil over Moses' face, and the veil that remains over the minds of those who read the Law without Christ — both removed only when one turns to the Lord (2 Cor 3:14–16). Access to God — once veiled, now unveiled — is the central message of the New Covenant.
VEIL, n. [L. velum, a sail or curtain; Fr. voile.]
1. A cover; a curtain; something spread over or before a thing to conceal it.
2. The curtain of the tabernacle or temple which separated the holy of holies from the outer apartment. Heb. 6:19; 9:3; 10:20.
3. A piece of thin cloth or silk worn by females to hide the face, or as an ornament.
4. In a figurative sense, a cover; disguise; something that hides or conceals. "Through the veil of his flesh." Heb. 10:20. "The veil of Moses," 2 Cor. 3. denotes the obscurity of the Mosaic dispensation, or the difficulty of discerning the spiritual sense of the types and ceremonies.
The torn veil is perhaps the most under-preached doctrine of the New Covenant. Its implications are staggering: every believer now has direct, unmediated, Spirit-enabled access to the Most Holy Place through the blood of Jesus (Heb 10:19–22). Yet much of Christian practice — certain liturgical traditions, clericalism, the professional pastor as intermediary, the sense that "ordinary" Christians can't really approach God directly — effectively re-erects the veil. Paul's warning about the veil over the mind that prevents seeing Christ in Scripture (2 Cor 3:14) applies directly to any interpretive tradition that reads the Bible without Christ at the center. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, the veil is removed; where institutions or traditions replace the Spirit, veils multiply.
Latin velum (sail, curtain, covering) → vela → Old French voile → Middle English veile → "veil" → Related: reveal (re + velum — to un-cover), revelation, develop (de + veloper — to unwrap) Hebrew: פָּרֹכֶת (paroket, H6532) — the inner veil/curtain of the Tabernacle/Temple → Separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place (Exod 26:31-35) → Of blue, purple, and scarlet yarns; made by skilled craftsmen → Josephus says it was 4 inches thick; could not be torn by human force מַסְוֶה (masveh, H4533) — the veil Moses wore over his face (Exod 34:33-35) Greek: καταπέτασμα (katapetasma, G2665) — the Temple veil/curtain → Torn at crucifixion: Matt 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45 → Heb 6:19; 9:3; 10:20 — Christ's flesh as the new veil; his death = its tearing κάλυμμα (kalymma, G2571) — the covering/veil (2 Cor 3:13-16)
• Matthew 27:51 — "The curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split."
• Hebrews 10:19–22 — "We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh."
• 2 Corinthians 3:14–16 — "To this day the same veil remains… only through Christ is it taken away. But when anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is removed."
• Exodus 26:31–33 — The construction of the veil: "You shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns… it shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy."
• Exodus 34:33–35 — Moses wearing the veil after descending from Sinai; removed when he spoke to the LORD.
H6532 — paroket (פָּרֹכֶת): the inner veil of the Tabernacle/Temple; the physical barrier between sinful humanity and God's holy presence; torn by Christ's death.
G2665 — katapetasma (καταπέτασμα): the Temple veil; torn at the crucifixion; used in Hebrews of Christ's flesh as the way of access into God's presence.