When Christ was crucified, the inner vail of the temple was rent in twain from top to bottom, which event signified that the CEREMONIAL SYSTEM of the SACRIFICIAL OFFERINGS was at an END FOREVER, that the one great and final sacrifice was made in the Lamb of God, slain for the sins of the world.

The darkness was again lifted from Calvary, and hung like a pall over Jerusalem. AT THE MOMENT IN WHICH CHRIST DIED, there were priests ministering in the temple before the vail which separated the holy from the most holy place. Suddenly they felt the earth tremble beneath them, and the vail of the temple, a strong, rich drapery that had been renewed yearly, was rent in twain from top to bottom by the same bloodless hand that wrote the words of doom upon the walls of Belshazzar's palace. The most holy place, that had been sacredly entered by human feet only once a year, was revealed to the common gaze. God had ever before protected his temple in a wonderful manner; but now its sacred mysteries were exposed to curious eyes. No longer would the presence of God overshadow the earthly mercy-seat. No longer would the light of his glory flash forth upon, nor the cloud of his disapproval shadow, the precious stones in the breastplate of the high priest. 

Satan rejoiced that the Jews were safe in his snare. They still continued their USELESS FORMS, their SACRIFICES and ORDINANCES. As Jesus hung upon the cross, and cried, It is finished, the vail of the temple was rent in twain, from the top to the bottom, to signify that God would no longer meet with the priests in the temple, to accept their sacrifices and ordinances; and also to show that the partition wall was broken down between the Jews and the Gentiles. Jesus had made an offering of himself for both, and if saved at all, both must believe in Jesus as the only offering for sin, and the Saviour of the world.

At the crucifixion, as Jesus died on Calvary, he cried, It is finished, and the vail of the temple was rent in twain, from the top to the bottom. This was to show that the services of the earthly Sanctuary were forever finished, and that GOD WOULD NO MORE MEET WITH THEM IN THEIR EARTHLY TEMPLE, TO ACCEPT THEIR SACRIFICES. The blood of Jesus was then shed, which was to be ministered by himself in the heavenly Sanctuary. As the priests in the earthly Sanctuary entered the Most Holy once a year to cleanse the Sanctuary, Jesus entered the Most Holy of the heavenly, at the end of the 2300 days of Dan, viii, in 1844, to make a final atonement for all who could be benefited by his mediation, and to cleanse the Sanctuary.

When Christ on the cross cried out, "It is finished," the vail of the temple was rent in twain. This vail was significant to the Jewish nation. It was of most costly material, of purple and gold, and was of great length and breadth. At the moment when Christ breathed His last, there were witnesses in the temple who beheld the strong, heavy material rent by unseen hands from top to bottom. This act signified to the heavenly universe, and to a world corrupted by sin, that a new and living way had been opened to the fallen race, that ALL SACRIFICIAL OFFERINGS TERMINATED IN THE ONE GREAT OFFERING OF THE SON OF GOD. He who had hitherto dwelt in the temple made with hands, had gone forth never again to grace it with His presence.

During all the wanderings of the children of Israel in the wilderness, Jesus, who was equal with the Father, was their leader and guide. Enshrouded in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, his presence was ever with them. There were symbols and shadowy types pointing to a Saviour to come; there was also a present Saviour, who gave commands directly to Moses for the children of Israel, and who was set forth before them as the only channel of blessings. The SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM was designed to TYPIFY THE SAVIOUR, who was to become the perfect offering for sinful man.

In the upper chamber of a dwelling at Jerusalem, Christ was sitting at table with His disciples. They had gathered to celebrate the Passover. The Saviour desired to keep this feast alone with the twelve. He knew that His hour was come; He Himself was the TRUE PASCHAL LAMB, and on the day the Passover was eaten He was to be sacrificed. He was about to drink the cup of wrath; He must soon receive the final baptism of suffering. But a few quiet hours yet remained to Him, and these were to be spent for the benefit of His beloved disciples.

. . .Thus was prophecy fulfilled, which declared that a bone of him should not be broken; and the law of the passover, requiring the sacrifice to be perfect and whole, was also FULFILLED IN THE OFFERING OF THE LAMB OF GOD. "They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it; according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it." 

"Broadly speaking, the law of Moses consists of three parts. The first is the Ceremonial law, the law of the temple -- THE SACRIFICIAL LAW. This law, of course, we today must not observe, except in antitype, for it foreshadowed things to come, particularly Christ's first advent. Thus it is that if we had lived in Old Testament times and had failed to comply with the sacrificial law and system of that day, we would thereby have demonstrated unbelief in Christ, Who was to come. But since we are living in the Christian era, if we should now observe the typical sacrificial law and system, we should thereby demonstrate unbelief in Christ, Who has come.

"And so, as THIS LAW WAS NAILED TO THE CROSS (Col. 2:14), we need not, and MUST NOT, OBSERVE IT NOW."