Ripping the Curtain

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"And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split." ~Matthew 27:50-51

        What is the significance of the curtain in the temple being torn in two at the death of Jesus?
        The curtain was huge, 6-inches thick, and separated the Holy of Holies in the Temple. God dwelt there amongst His people, yet separated by this curtain. While it may seem like an unfair thing for a loving God to separate His presence thus from His people, it was actually amazingly caring that He allowed the High Priest to enter once a year and intervene for the people. God is the very essence of Holiness, and we the people are as far from perfect holiness as the east is from the west. Being holy, God couldn't come into contact with a filth-ridden people, but because He cared He allowed His presence in the Holy of Holies. If anyone, including the High Priest on most days, set foot in the Holy of Holies, they would die, unable to be in God's Holy presence.
        So why did it rip? Shouldn't everyone have died when God's presence was no longer contained behind the curtain? Fortunately for us, that wasn't the case. When Jesus died, He took all our sins-past, present, future-on Himself and because of His sacrifice, God looks at Him and sees us as holy. Since we are now made holy, we're allowed in the presence of God, and He is no longer solely in the Holy of Holies for our protection; we can have a personal relationship with Him.
      Before Jesus' death, the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies once a year to make sacrifices for the people. At the time of Jesus' death, He 'entered' the Holy of Holies as a perfect High Priest, offering Himself as a perfect sacrifice. Because He was a perfect sacrifice, no more sacrifices were needed, and the sins of His people are eternally paid for, making us a holy people.
        Thus, the curtain ripping at the death of Jesus signifies that the necessary separation between God and man was remedied by Jesus' sacrifice for our sins. 

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