How big was the veil in the Tabernacle?

Question:

What was the height weight and dimension of the veil and any other info you might have on the veil with scripture reference?

Answer:

Exodus 26:16 tells us the height of the walls in the Tabernacle, “Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the breadth of one board.” A cubit equals 18 inches, so the height of the walls would be 15 feet.

The veil was used to divide Tabernacle. Exodus 26:31-33 says, “And thou shalt make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made: And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver. And thou shalt hang up the veil under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the veil the ark of the testimony: and THE VEIL SHALL DIVIDE UNTO YOU BETWEEN THE HOLY PLACE AND THE MOST HOLY.” So if the veil went up to the ceiling, it would have been 15 feet high.

The Tabernacle was placed in a courtyard which was 75 feet wide by 150 feet long. Exodus 27:18 says, “The length of the court shall be an hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass.” This also tells us that the height of the courtyard curtains were 5 cubits or 7 1/2 feet high.

The dimensions of the Tabernacle are figured out by the board sizes given to us. Exodus 26:16 says, “Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the breadth of one board.” So each board for the wall of the Tabernacle was 15 feet high, and 27 inches wide. The sides were 6 boards wide, 8 including the 2 corner boards. Exodus 26:22-25 says, “And for the sides of the tabernacle westward thou shalt make six boards. And two boards shalt thou make for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides. And they shall be coupled together beneath, and they shall be coupled together above the head of it unto one ring: thus shall it be for them both; they shall be for the two corners. And they shall be eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.” The width of the 8 boards together would make the Tabernacle 18 feet wide.

The Tabernacle was 20 boards long. Exodus 26:18-20 says, “And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards on the south side southward. And thou shalt make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons. And for the second side of the tabernacle on the north side there shall be twenty boards.” That would make the length of the Tabernacle 45 feet long.

So the the veil would have been up to 15 feet high, and 18 feet long. As to the weight of it, the Bible does not say. Tradition says that two horses hooked to it would not have been able to pull it in two, it was so thick, but the Bible never says that.

The important thing for us is that when the Lord Jesus Christ died, that veil was ripped in two. Matthew 27:50-54 says, “Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.” Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Do you believe that He is the way, the truth, and the life — the way to heaven?

Hebrews 10:17-20 says, “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.” It is through Jesus Christ that we have access to the Holy of Holies, into heaven itself one day.