The interior and exterior design of our church expresses heaven on earth, as well as the Old and New Testament. Our churches have the same arrangement as that of the Old Testament. They are divided into three parts, the courtyard, the sanctuary, and the Holy of Holies, in the Old Testament and the narthex, nave, and Holy Place in the New Testament.
The Holy of Holies of the Old Testament corresponds to the Holy Place in the New Testament Church. It symbolizes the Heavenly Kingdom, the Holy Table as the Throne of God, elevated from the narthex and nave. Between the Holy Place and the nave there is an iconostas.
The Holy Hierarch Basil the Great in the second half of the fourth century was the first to have the Holy Place concealed by the closing of a veil. The veil that is drawn across the Royal Doors of the iconostas in our church is a representation of the veil that separated the Holy of Holies, a separate room, in the ancient Temple of the Jews in Jerusalem. Once a year, on Yom Kippur, the “Day of Atonement,” only the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies and perform a special ceremony that symbolized the people’s repentance for the sins of the previous year and to entreat God’s forgiveness. Apostle Paul tells us that this ritual was a prophecy of the incarnation, death, and resurrection of our Lord.
In every Divine Liturgy we unite ourselves with our Lord’s sacrifice. On our behalf the priest carries bread and wine into the altar, behind the closed curtain of the Royal Doors, just like the Old Testament priest, symbolizing the Passion and rising of the incarnate Christ.
The word veil in Hebrew means separator. The purpose of the veil was to separate a Holy God from sinful man. It is a constant reminder that sin makes us unfit for the presence of God. When Christ died, the veil was torn in half from top to bottom suggesting that this act had come from above, for it was too high for human hands to reach. This having been done, the Holy of Holies was exposed and the presence of God was now accessible to all. Through the ultimate offering, sacrifice of the Son of God, the path to God was opened for us.
The veil can be considered a barrier between heaven and earth, or obstacle. It is better said that the visual separation of the Holy Place from the people by the veil, when opened reveals to us the mysteries of heaven, our exposure to them is the very core of the life of every Christian. We believe that the merciful Lord will open to us the door to heaven and lead us in to live in it for all of eternity.
Drawing the curtain, opening the doors are ways of revealing God’s Mystery every time we see it and are drawn to it.
