Admitted into God's Presence - The Temple Veil

Anciently, a veil or curtain separated the holy of holies from the rest of the tabernacle or temple (see, for example, Exodus 26:31—33; 2 Chronicles 3:14; and Hebrews 9:3, 5). The Lord instructed Moses that the high priest should not pass through the veil until he had been washed, dressed in priestly clothing, and brought a sacrifice (see Leviticus 16:2—4).


"Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil" (Hebrews 6: 19)

Clement of Alexandria knew of people who were making "a perverse use of the divine words... they do not enter in as we enter in, through the tradition of the LORD, by drawing aside the curtain" (Misc. 7.17).
Clement goes on to show that Church tradition is older than heresy. These teachers, he said, "preserving the tradition of the blessed doctrine derived directly from the holy apostles, Peter, James, John and Paul, the son receiving it from the father (but few were like their fathers) came by God’s will to us also to deposit those ancestral and apostolic seeds" (Misc. 1.1).

This "tradition of blessed doctrine" is described elsewhere as gnosis, that which has descended by transmission to a few, having been imparted unwritten by the apostles." (Misc. 6.7).

It was acquired by "drawing aside the curtain", temple imagery for access to the presence of God, the privilege of the high priest.

The ultimate goal in passing the heavenly sentinels is to enter into the presence of the Lord, which is achieved by passing through gates or veils. In the Testament of Isaac 6:4, we read, "Then they (the angels) took me by the hand and led me to the curtain before the throne of the father." (James H. Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, 1:909.)

In the medieval Sepher Hekhalot ("Book of the [Heavenly] Temples"), Rabbi Ishmael reports being presented at the curtain that hangs before God. (The Hebrew text was published in Adolph Jellinek, Bet haMidrasch, 5:187.)

The Second Treatise of the Great Seth 58:7-14, which has the resurrected Christ speaking of those who "did not put me to shame, they were not put to shame. Since they were not afraid before me, they will pass by every gate without fear and will be perfected in the third glory." (James M. Robinson, The Nag Hammadi Library, 366.)

See the mosaics and mural of the temple veil by Hamblin of Jerusalem)
Temple Mosaics from el-Khirbe Synagogue 
Temple Mosaic from Khirbet Samara
The Church of All Nations - Gethsemane

In the article, The Catholic Liturgy And The Mormon Temple by Marcus von Wellnitz he tells how the veil in the Catholic Church have changed through the centuries with some of the imagery and symbolism still recognizable.

This photo is of the Celstial Room in the Salt Lake Temple, looking toward the veil as it looked in 1912.
For more interesting photos of the Salt Lake Temple at the turn of the 20th century see the book, 'The House of the Lord,' by James E. Talmage, published in 1912. To read about how the Church was being blackmailed and the circumstances that brought about the first temple book and the controversial photos see Explaining the Temple to the World: James E. Talmage's Monumental Book, The House of the Lord

Also See:
The Second Comforter: Conversing With The Lord Through the Veil by Denver C. Snuffer, Jr. (book)