"Nevertheless, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away" (2 Cor. 3:16).
Paul has already referred to the fading brightness of Moses’ face as a symbol of the passing glory of his ministry. In verses 12–18, he expounds on the function of the veil in covering Moses’ face. When Moses returned to the people after speaking with God, they beheld the glory that shone brightly in his face. After pronouncing the covenant to the people, Moses then veiled his face. Paul gives us some clues as to why Moses covered himself.
First of all, the veil was a symbol of the obscurity of the revelation made under the old dispensation. “As the brightness of Moses’ face was covered, so spiritual or evangelical truth was of old covered under the types and shadows of the Mosaic economy,” Hodge wrote. There were numerous ceremonial laws that prefigured the office and work of Christ, but these were only types and shadows, thus the Mosaic covenant was not as clear as the new in its revelation of redemption.
In the second place, the veil was a symbol of the blindness which rested on the minds of the Jews, which prevented them from seeing the importance of their own sacrificial system. “Nevertheless, as Moses removed the veil from his face when he turned to the Lord, so both the obscurity which rests on the law, and the blindness which rests on the mind of the Jew, are dispelled when he turns towards Christ,” Hodge wrote. “The vision of His glory transforms the soul into His likeness, vv. 16–18.”
Sadly, the Jews in Paul’s day, just like the Jewish people today, remained in the dark concerning the purpose of the Mosaic covenant because they refused to turn to the Lord. They remained satisfied in the mere external and ceremonial aspects of the law without realizing the true importance of the types and shadows of the old economy. Paul says that the veil remains unless it is removed by turning to Christ, just as Moses stripped away his veil when he turned to the Lord. Only in Christ can we find liberty from the condemnation of the law and true understanding. Without Him, we remain in darkness, veiled from the truth by the hardness of our own hearts. But those who are delivered from the bondage of the law behold the divine excellence of Christ, and in beholding His glory, we are transformed into glory by the Spirit of the Lord.
Read Hebrews 10:19–25. What hope do Christians have that those who hold onto the “righteousness of the law” do not have? Because Christ has removed the veil that separates you from God, what privileges do you now have? If you have been afraid to approach God, put away that fear. Approach Him today with boldness in Christ.
