This past week I was preparing some material for the Answering Adventism platform and was reminded of how the subtle twistings of Ellen G. White are quietly woven through every fiber of the Seventh-day Adventist theological fabric—in ways that, if one doesn’t really understanding the Bible, will subtly impress upon one’s subconscious ideas alien to Scripture.
In what could be considered one of her capstone works, The Story of Redemption, pg. 386, Ellen G. White wrote this regarding the tearing of the temple veil—an event that is documented for us in the gospels:
“The rending of the veil of the temple showed that the Jewish sacrifices and ordinances would no longer be received. The great Sacrifice had been offered and had been accepted, and the Holy Spirit which descended on the day of Pentecost carried the minds of the disciples from the earthly sanctuary to the heavenly, where Jesus had entered by His own blood, to shed upon His disciples the benefits of His atonement. But the Jews were left in total darkness. They lost all the light which they might have had upon the plan of salvation, and still trusted in their useless sacrifices and offerings. The heavenly sanctuary had taken the place of the earthly, yet they had no knowledge of the change. Therefore they could not be benefited by the mediation of Christ in the holy place.”
The “inspired pen” of the Adventist Church claims that the tearing of the temple veil represented a change in the location of the temple work—that a sanctuary building in heaven had taken the place of the earthly, and Jesus would be working in that temple as a priest. Fundamentally, Mrs. White filters this monumental act of God through the Adventist sanctuary and investigative judgment paradigm.
The “inspired pen” of the Adventist Church claims that the tearing of the temple veil represented a change in the location of the temple work…
But is that what’s in view? Does the tearing of the veil represent a change in location of the temple work?
If we recall, the temple veil was the visual barrier between God and man. It was something through which only the High priest could enter once a year on the Day of Atonement, and not without blood (Hebrews 9:7). It represented the separation that existed between God and his people, similar to Mt. Sinai. But also, the veil was the representative doorway into the presence of God. After all, it was only in the Most Holy Place that God would manifest His presence over the mercy seat (Leviticus 16:1-2).
With that in mind, in Hebrews 10:19-22 we’re told something rather insightful about this imagery and how it ultimately pointed to the person and work of Jesus Christ. After telling us in Hebrews 9:8 that—while the Levitical priesthood work was going on, the way into the presence of God was closed off to the believer—he then proceeds to tell us that the way has now been opened for us. Notice how:
“Therefore, brothers, since 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, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
In contrast to the Levitical priesthood work which involved the blood of mere animals, the single sacrifice of Christ—by his body and blood—has opened the way for all believers to enter into the presence of God. We’re told that the true curtain—the antitypical one—is Jesus Christ’s own flesh. It is by being “in Christ” that we ourselves have access into the presence of God. It was Christ’s flesh on the cross that was pierced for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5), tearing down the barrier for believers.
In light of this revelation, Jesus’s words in John 10:7-9 take on even deeper significance. He says:
“So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”
Just like the temple veil was the representative door that the high priest would enter and approach God’s presence, Jesus Christ—the true door—is the way of access into the presence of God for His people.
All of the temple imagery ultimately pointed to Jesus—even the temple itself (John 2:18-19). The tearing of the veil was representative of the barrier between God and man being removed because the True Curtain had come of which the woven fabric veil was only a type and shadow. Its tearing was a monumental picture of the true fulfillment of the gap being bridged between God and man. With the ascension of Christ back to Father, He entered into the true Most Holy Place—heaven itself—to appear in the presence of the Father, bringing with him access for all of those who are in Him.
These words by Ellen White… attempts to repair the veil that was torn by establishing a new one—what we might call the Sanctuary and Investigative Judgment curtain.
These words by Ellen White—which the Adventist Church upholds as divinely inspired—attempts to repair the veil that was torn by establishing a new one—what we might call the Sanctuary and Investigative Judgment curtain. While Ellen White continues in The Story of Redemption to assert that “those who rejected the first [angel’s] message could not be benefited by the second; neither were they benefited by the midnight cry, which was to prepare them to enter with Jesus by faith into the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary,” the veil still remains because the True Temple and True Veil are missed.
The tearing of the temple veil was not representative of the temple work continuing in a different building in a different location. Rather, Jesus is the true tabernacle, and by His flesh being torn and bruised for us—his precious blood shed—the barrier is removed, and we can enter the presence of God with boldness and assurance, having a conscience cleansed by the sprinkling of that blood, knowing that we are accepted “in Christ Jesus.” If Jesus is still dealing with sin in a building in heaven (missing that Jesus is the true tabernacle)—as the Adventist sanctuary doctrine asserts—then we cannot have access to God (Hebrews 9). The veil is still up, and the separation still exists due to our sin.
But thanks be to God that the single sacrifice of Christ “put sin away” at the cross (Hebrews 9:25-6), dealing with it once and for all. Our Great High Priest-King has taken His rightful seat upon His throne after His completed redemptive work—in contrast to the Levitical priests who never sat down because the work of dealing with sin was never finished (Hebrews 10:11-14). He offers His broken body that was torn to all of those that would believe. And by faith in the person and work of Jesus, we enter through the True Curtain and Temple—Jesus Christ—into the presence of God with boldness. †
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