the sacrificial work which He came most willingly to do.

Hallelujah, what a

The examination of Hebrews 5:7 -9 has led us into sacred portions of

the Saviour's experience and demanded a full examination.  We now approach

the third of the references to His flesh, found in the Epistle to the

'Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the

blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for

us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh' (10:19,20).

We must not forget that the apostle has been emphasizing the

superiority of the New Covenant with its one perfect Offering, as compared

with the Old Covenant and its repeated offerings which, by reason of their

very nature, could not touch the conscience.  The passage before us is a

logical consequence of this superiority, and so is introduced by the word

'therefore'.  The subject is access into the holiest of all, which Hebrews

9:24 reveals to be 'heaven itself'.  The special aspect of access which is

before us is embodied in the Greek word eisodos, a word composed of eis,

'unto' and hodos, 'way', a word which is the complement of exodus, 'the way

out'.  In four of the five occurrences of eisodos the A.V. translates it,

'entering in', 'entrance' or 'enter into'.  In one it is rendered 'coming'

and this passage refers to Christ.  'When John had first preached before His

coming, the baptism of repentance' (Acts 13:24).  His 'coming' was His

entrance into this world of sin and darkness, and as a consequence of what He

suffered and accomplished, His believing people have both an exodus out of

this dominion of sin and death, and an entrance, an eisodos, into the

heavenly holiest of all.  Peter urges the need for an experimental 'entrance'

upon those who have by grace boldness of entering into the holiest (2 Pet.

1:11).  There is in this a direct reference to the opposite state of things

that was found under the law.  The Tabernacle in the olden days was 'made

with hands', being only a figure of the true Tabernacle which the Lord

pitched and not man.  This shadow of heavenly realities was never entered by

any Israelite, except the high priest alone, and that but once every year,

not without blood which he offered both for himself and for the people:

'The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all

was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet

standing' (Heb. 9:8).

This 'way' we learn was not made manifest under the law, and was only

made plain after the death of Christ.  The feature, therefore, which now

demands our attention is the reference to the veil.  Three different kinds of

veils are mentioned in the New Testament.  Kalumma, the head veil, mentioned

in 2 Corinthians 3:13,14,15,16 and in the LXX to the veil on Moses' face

(Exod. 34:33).  Peribolaion, something thrown around, a covering or a garment

and used in 1 Corinthians 11:15.  Katapetasma, the word used for the veil of

the Tabernacle in the passage before us.  This word is a compound of kata, an

intensive with the idea of coming down, and a form of petao, 'to open, spread

and expand'.  This is the word used in the New Testament to speak of the veil

that hung in Herod's temple (Matt. 27:51), and the two veils that hung in the

Tabernacle (Heb. 6:19; 9:3).  It must never be forgotten that the veil did

not speak of entrance, but hung at the entrance to forbid access, except in

the exceptional circumstances already mentioned.  A door also, while giving